Health, Safety & Security Trends in Career and Technical Education

CareerSafe Youth Safety Video Contest Promo

2011-11-22T14:17:00.001-05:00

CareerSafe (r) the National Youth Safety Initiative is sponsoring the 2011-2012 National Youth Safety Video Contest. The video contest will provide students with a unique opportunity to show what they think and know about workplace safety. Register and submit your workplace safety video and you could win one of three scholarships plus a cash prize for your school.

Start Safe, Stay Safe. CareerSafe!

Don't Get Nailed - NIOSH Promotes Nail Gun Safety

2011-10-01T11:41:00.001-04:00

It's been awhile since my last post. Haven't forgotten about career and technical school safety. Just have been pulled in some other directions lately. But back to safety for another important topic. From the Center for Disease Control - National Institute of Occupational Safety & Health comes Nail Gun Safety - A Guide for Construction Contractors. Most career and technical schools feature construction, carpentry and/or building trades programs. Despite the beating that the construction industry has taken in the past few years as a result of the Recession, construction related programs remain popular among students.

The construction industry offers a great number and variety of power tools available on most work sites. As we know, powered tools offer some unique risks to the user and require some specialized training before turning students loose. Whether powered by gas, electric, or hybrid power sources, regardless of the type, roofing, framing or flooring, nail guns are dangerous tools that can cause serious injury and have caused several construction worker deaths because of misuse and accidents. Training students thoroughly in the proper and safe use of nail guns is an important part of our construction trades curricula.

Picture Credits: http://toolmonger.com/2008/04/25/nail-gun-safety/

Injuries from nail guns can be serious and serveral incidents of fatal injuries have been recorded. Most injuries occur to hands and fingers, but nails discharged into legs, feet and even the head and torso are not uncommon. A nail entering the skull can penetrate into the brain stem and cause death. A nail, propelled by the high pressure of the nail gun can easily enter the soft tissue of the torso and strike vital internal organs. Studies cited by the document's authors indicated that an average of 37,000 visits a year to the emergency room can be attributed to nail gun injuries, and several deaths have been reported.

The causes of injuries vary, but often involve the unintentional firing of a nail because of the user carrying or moving the gun away from the surface of the work with a finger on the trigger. Users may contact their own bodies with the business end of the gun, as well as the bodies of coworkers when passing in close quarters such as hallways and doorways. Another hazard of use is the recoil or kick back of the heavy gun when it is fired. A user may be struck in the head or face with the gun when using it in an awkward position or in tight quarters. Double firing of the gun is common for inexperienced users. Improperly holding the work piece in place can result in hands and fingers being nailed, especially if distracted. Ricocheted nails occur when nails are discharged against a hard surface and complete penetration of a nail through the wood causes an airborn projectile to threaten anyone in the area. Nails passing through plywood or plaster board and missing a stud also cause a flying projectile to exit the opposite side. Improper nail placement can be misdirected to the free hand holding the work. Knots in wood and steel framing are common causes of ricochets. One totally preventable cause of injuries is the intentional bypassing of safety features on the gun, or overriding trigger mechanisms or contact tip safeties. When transporting the gun from one area to another, and especially up or down ladders the air hose or power cords should be disconnected to avoid accidental trigger activation.

The NIOSH guide offers some important pointers for nail gun use. It starts out with a review of the types of injuries inflicted by nail guns and six simple steps to encouraging safe nail gun use. From a cover letter provided with the guidance document, NIOSH provides the following description:

The guidance was developed in response to a unanimous recommendation by employer, labor and public members of OSHA’s Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), asking OSHA to develop awareness and materials about nail gun risks. OSHA and NIOSH worked together to make sure the guidance reflects the most current information available. The publication highlights what is known about nail gun injuries, describes the common causes of nail gun injuries and provides six practical steps that contractors can take to prevent these injuries. The guidance includes actual workplace cases along with a short section on other types of nail gun hazards and sources of additional information.

Beginning with six practical steps for contractors to take, NIOSH recommends:

Use nail guns with a "full sequential trigger." This type of trigger requires a set number of actions to release a nail from the gun. To release a nail, the safety tip must make contact and be pushed into a surface, and then the trigger depressed for each nail to be released. It is the safest, because it doesn't allow the rapid, automatic release of nails, such as done when a gun is used to "bump nail" or nail in rapid succession by holding down the trigger and bumping the tip of the gun onto the surface, releasing a nail each time the tip is bumped. Bumping the tip of a "contact trigger" type gun into one's self or a co-worker, is a common injury according to the publication. Contact trigger nail guns are also particularly dangerous for jobs requiring the worker to hold the piece in place by hand or when necessary to use the gun in difficult positions such as off of a
case, the student, the more important that the safest type of gun, the full sequential trigger, be used, to avoid accidents common for inexperienced users, such as accidental firing.
Training. The publication offers many suggestions for ongoing training for both new and experienced nail gun users. It is important that all users be familiar with the types of equipment available, the differences and risks of the different types of triggering mechanisms and the causes of injuries. Employees and students should be advised of the manufacturer's recommendations for safe use, and where the manufacturer's guides are kept for future reference. It is also recommended that ongoing taining include general construction site safety, protective equipment and first aid.
Through their combined efforts NIOSH and OSHA in putting this guidance together collected industry best practices and offers a representative list of do's and don'ts that should be included in a written nail gun use rules and procedure. "Do's" should include things like assuring that manuals are available on site for users; Determining that tools and power sources are in proper working order; Safe usage such as hand placement for work being manually held in place, and keeping work areas clear of other people, especially in the "line of fire." Special rules and directions should be available for work in unusual positions and for dealing with contigencies such as nail gun misfires and jams. "Don'ts" include things like not hanging or dragging tools by air supply hoses or electrical cords; Or bypassing tool safety features such as trigger guards and contact tip safety features, as well as taping down or otherwise overriding the trigger. Special training and plenty of practice is needed for advanced operations such as "bump nailing."
Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) is absolutely necessary for any job. Hard hats, safety glasses or goggles, ear protection, hand protection and fall protection for individuals working at height are necessary and required by regulation on all work sites. No worker or student should enter a work area without properly fitted and operatiing PPE. Damaged or worn items should be replaced.
Encourage the reporting of injuries and near misses. According to the publication, studies have shown that many nail gun injuries go unreported. In a real life situation reported in the publication, a worker discharged a nail into his thigh. He didn't seek medical help, and removed the nail himself. Later in the day, after suffering extreme pain in his thigh, he went to the hospital and was diagnosed with a fractured femur and a shard of the nail still embedded in his leg. Even seemingly minor injuries can reveal serious problems after time. Report all injuries. By reviewing the types of injuries and near misses that occur on the job (or in the learning shop) we can look for trends and identify problem areas, which in turn allow us to concentrate our training efforts. Many accidents are preventable, especially when we learn and share with others the causes of injuries on the job.
Finally, make sure that you are ready to provide immediate first aid to workers or students who are injured on the job. OSHA and school safety regulations require that each work site and educational facility respectively, be equipped with first aid equipment and that workers are trained in basic first aid procedures. Teachers and supervisors should be trained in basic first aid and CPR and renew their certifications as required. Emergency numbers, and communications equipment, at very least a cell phone, should be available at each site to address emergencies when they occur.

As powerful nail guns become more popular and common place on job sites and in our vocational programs, increased incidents of injury and even death are raising concern. NIOSH and OSHA along with industry professionals and manufacturers have combined efforts to look at the causes of injuries in an effort to raise awareness and develope safe operating procedures. We have a unique opportunity in secondary education to instill in young minds that safety on the job should be first and formost. Developing safe practices and procedures in the classroom will increase the likelihood that our students will take these skills to the workplace. Don't get nailed! Be sure to teach and demonstrate safe nail gun use.

National Lightning Safety Week

2011-06-23T09:10:00.001-04:00

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - National Weather Service (NOAA-NWS) declared the week of June 19-25, 2011 as Lightning Safety Week, "When Thunder Roars Go Indoors." In schools, administrators and teachers must be aware of changing weather conditions when plans call for students to be outside, such as recess times, sporting events and outdoor classes. At many career and technical schools outdoor demonstrations are common place. Construction classes, horticulture and animal care, and special events like field days and open houses all place students and sometimes visitors in harms way when storms approach.

The NWS lightning awareness website reports that already in 2011 there have been 6 fatal lightning strikes in the United States. All of the deaths occurred while the victims were involved in activities in open spaces such as farm fields and one on the golf course. Activities in the open should be stopped when storms with lightning are approaching. The NWS offers a page of links to take you to the eye opening statistics about lightning strikes resulting in fatalities. Preliminary statistics for 2010 weather related deaths can be found here. Although on average lightning ranks below heat and floods for the greatest number of weather caused deaths, one must consider the considerable risk to large groups of people caught in stormy weather, such as students participating in an outdoor class. Lightning is one of the formidable risks that we have to consider when planning outdoor activities with our students.

Even if not killed, the NWS site warns, "Hundreds of people are permanently injured each year. People struck by lightning suffer from a variety of long-term, debilitating symptoms, including memory loss, attention deficits, sleep disorders, chronic pain, numbness, dizziness, stiffness in joints, irritability, fatigue, weakness, muscle spasms, depression, and more." Surviving a lightning strike can be a life changing experience as well.

Some safety tips from a NOAA lightning safety brochure available for download from the NOAA-NWS website:

When outdoors:

No place outside is safe when thunderstorms are in your area.
If you can hear thunder, lightning is close enough to strike you. Get indoors immediately.
Go to a sturdy building or inside of a metal topped vehicle.
Remain in shelter for 30 minutes after you hear the last clap of thunder.

When indoors:

Indoors, do not use phones with cords, computers or other appliances connected to the electrical supply. Lightning can travel throughout the building's electrical wiring and to anyone using the phone, computer, etc.
Indoors, avoid plumbing such as faucets, water fixtures, baths. Lightning can travel through water pipes. Water is a good conductor of electricity.
Stay away from windows and doors, and stay off of the porch.
Don't lay on concrete floors or lean against concrete walls. (Lightning can travel through re-bar or metal mesh reinforcement in concrete.)

If outside, with no shelter available, from the NWS brochure:

Immediately get off elevated areas such as hills, mountain ridges or peaks
NEVER lie flat on the ground
NEVER use a tree for shelter
NEVER use a cliff or rocky overhang for shelter
Immediately get out and away from ponds, lakes and other bodies of water
Stay away from objects that conduct electricity (barbed wire fences, power lines, windmills, etc.)
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES should ANY of the above actions be taken if a building or an all-metal vehicle is nearby

If you are with someone who is struck by lightning:

The person is safe to touch. An individual who is struck by lightning does NOT hold an electrical charge.
If the victim has stopped breathing or is without a pulse

Call 9-1-1
Perform Rescue Breathing as taught by the American Red Cross or American Heart Association
If the person is without a pulse

Perform Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation as taught by the ARC or AHA.
If available an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) should be applied immediately to a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest.

When planning outdoor activities for your school, consider the following:

Educate yourself about weather in general and about the dangers of lightning and thunderstorms particularly.
Check the weather for the day through the NWS or your local TV weather report.
Monitor changing weather for signs of approaching threatening weather.

Consider purchasing a lightning detector or lightning strike indicator (link for example only - not an endorsement of a particular product.)

Have a contingency plan to move participants out of harms way by moving into a substantial building.
The National Athletic Trainers Association offers excellent guidelines for school officials that are planning outdoor events.

On average, lightning kills around 100 people each year. Because of our increased knowledge and sensitivity to the dangers of lightning, the yearly numbers have been decreasing. However a substantial number of people are killed and injured every year because of lightning strikes. For the most part, the risk for our staffs and students can be decreased significantly by conscientious planning, monitoring of weather and practicing proactive weather safety. When Thunder Roars - Go Indoors!

Home Fire Escape Plans Work! Teach Your Children Today!

2011-06-12T09:48:00.008-04:00

Trace Adkins & Family's Misfortune Teach Us Fire Safety in the Home

Ever since watching Trace Adkins on Donald Trump's Celebrity Apprentice way back in 2008, I really gained a new respect for a man that I found to have a great deal of intelligence, integrity and class. Not to mention, his music isn't bad either. Actually, it's really, really good, otherwise we probably wouldn't be watching him, right? As good as his music is, now I have another reason to admire Mr. Adkins, and his wife Rhonda. On June 5, CNN reported that the Atkins' home burned, while the Adkins' three young daughters were home with their nanny. Mrs. Adkins had left shortly before, and was called back to the house by a neighbor who saw the fire. The CNN report is below, and linked here:

They apparently are secret fans of Sparky, the famous Fire Dog, who by the way turned 60 this year. Sparky has been encouraging children and their families to practice fire prevention and safety at home for 60 years, and undoubtedly has saved more than one child. Well add to his record Trace Adkins family of three young daughters, who according to their parents learned the fire safety routines in school.

Every family should have and practice a home fire escape plan. They are simple to design and easy to implement and practice. Children of all ages should be included, with age-appropriate guidance. Sparky recommends the following on his "parents" page to develop and practice a fire escape plan in your home.

On a plain piece of paper, or one of the grids provided by the Sparky.org website, draw a floor plan of your house. Draw out each floor. Show all the windows and doors. Help each child to identify his room, if old enough to understand.
Mark two ways out of each room. Use the simplest, quickest route as your primary exit, and then secondary exits might be alternate doors or windows from the room. Second story windows can be used when they lead to a lower roof, such as a porch or garage. If using a window exit, make sure children know how to unlock windows and how to climb out onto the roof. As another alternative to upper story windows that open to the ground, fire escape ladders can be considered for children old enough to deploy and use them. (See recommended safety instructions from the manufacturer).
Pick a family meeting place somewhere outside, away from your home, and preferably in the front yard, where responding fire fighters will find you quickly. The Adkins family attribute practicing fire drills and actually tying a yellow ribbon to the meeting place tree in their front yard. When Rhonda Adkins returned home, after being advised of the fire by a neighbor, the children were all under the tree tied with the yellow ribbon, just as they had practiced. Once out, never, never return to the residence until cleared by the fire department. Get out! Stay out!
The NFPA recommends, through Sparky's page, that families practice your fire drills at least twice a year. If you have small children, more often may be a good idea. Schools are required to practice fire drills with all students, regardless of age, once a month. Tailor your drills to the needs of your family.

Trace Adkins will always be a star in my book. Not only because he is a great musician and entertainer, as well as being an all around good guy, he and his wife also are heroes in that they encouraged their children to learn and practice the home fire escape plan, the children brought home from their school. When your son or daughter comes home from school, excited about practicing the home fire drills that visiting fire fighters taught them, don't ignore them. Help them to develop an exit plan for your home, and practice it regularly.

Important Update

Photo Credit: United Press International
from Fire Fighting News.

Tragically, as is often the case, again we learn the sad lesson that a home with children and without working smoke detectors is a disaster waiting to happen. Another family in Warren OH suffered tremendous losses when a burning picnic grill ignited the back of the home, travelling quickly up and into the home trapping six occupants including four children. From the Fire Fighting News website report, "[Warren, OH Fire Chief Ken Nussle] said there didn't appear to be working smoke detectors in the home."

What was supposed to be a tip of the hat to a great musician now becomes a tribute to kids. Hug yours an extra time today. And make sure that your and your loved ones homes have working smoke detectors, today.

Juvenile Fire Setters - A Potential Hot Problem for Schools

2011-06-04T17:19:00.010-04:00

This recent article from Colorado KJCT8 news reminds us, as if we needed it, that there are many troubled youth out there that end up in our schools. At this point we can't determine the kid's motivation for setting into motion a series of events that he may or may not have known could evolve into a major conflagration. In this posting, Canfield OH fire officials determined that cleaning solvent ignited with a Bic lighter by an 18 year old student started a conflagration in an art classroom at the Mahoning County Career Center, that I've written about before. The fire caused millions of dollars in damage and put hundreds of students' and staffs' lives in jeopardy, though no injuries were reported.

The National Fire Protection Administration (NFPA) Executive Summary of Children Playing With Fire identifies several different types of firesetters, including the criminally intent teenager who uses fire as a way of rebelling against authority, known as instrumental firesetting. In this case according to the literature, the adolescent has learned that fire can be used as a tool of power, as a weapon.

The US Fire Administration published the report USFA - Juvenile Fire setting: A Growing Concern in 2006. Not only are schools at risk from juvenile firesetters, on a bigger scale the entire community can be affected when kids discover the mesmerizing power of fire. In career and technical education, because of the nature of our teaching shops, we have a ready stock of flammable liquids, ignition sources and a plethora of other weapons that a disturbed individual could turn into a bad day for everyone. In one erudite study of juvenile firesetters the author cites an alarming NFPA statistic,

"Each year, fires set by juveniles’ account for a large portion of fire-related public property damage and deaths. Fires set by children and adolescents are more likely than any other household disaster to result in death (National Fire Protection Association, 1999)."

From a more recent report published by the NFPA, by John R. Hall, Jr in 2010:

In 2008, an estimated 53,500 child-playing fires were reported to U.S. municipal fire departments, with associated losses of 70 civilian deaths, 910 civilian injuries, and $279 million in direct damage.

And;

Most (83%) set fires (that is, fires that are intentional and/or involve playing) are intentional only and do not involve playing. Also, most (77%) set fires specifically in home structures do not involve playing.

So juvenile firesetting is a problem that we can and will see in our schools. Fortunately for our schools, unfortunate for the community, most of these behaviors take place outside of the school setting. But, emotionally unstable and psychologically impaired students have been known to set fires in schools both as "fireplay" and aggressive arson. With the growing number of children with special psychological and emotional needs in our schools, we could see an uptick in the prevalence of firesetting and related behavior. We have already begun to experience more frequent disruption to some of our schools because of the erratic behavior of students as demonstrated in school violence, bullying and other forms of anti-social behavior. Firesetting is only one of many threatening behaviors we see in our students today for a number of psycho-social reasons, too numerous and convoluted to explore here. There are some indicators though, that are enumerated below.
It should come as no surprise that juvenile fire setting has been a concern for a long time. In the 1970's and 80's when I was active in the fire service as a fire educator and investigator, juvenile fire setting quickly rose to national attention. In my own county, the fire service, schools, juvenile justice and childrens' mental health communities came together to form the Trumbull County Juvenile Firesetters Task Force, that provided a multi-discipline approach to providing services for children who were involved in firesetting behavior. Our approach involved education, fire safety, emotional support and psychological services and family inclusion, for specific reasons outlined below. Age appropriate fire safety and prevention training was given to a child by a fire fighter mentor specially trained to deliver the program over a period of time. Over the years, the problem has become the subject of a wide body of literature.

In this dissertation, Juvenile Firesetters, an Exploratory Analysis, Michael Lawrence Slavkin, PhD., identifies 7 types of firesetters, outlined in this chart taken from his paper:

Table One - Typology of Firesetters

Type of Firesetter

Characteristics

1. Curiosity Type

Younger children who do not understand consequences of their behavior. Desire is to watch the flame. Hyperactivity or attention deficit may be present. No intent to cause harm. Traditional early childhood diagnosis.

2. Accidental Type

Usually involves children under 11 years of age. Teenagers playing scientist. The fire results from no destructive motive to create fire.

3. The “Cry for Help” Type

Includes those offenders who consciously or subconsciously wish to bring attention to an interpersonal dysfunction (depression) to an interpersonal dysfunction (abuse at home, vicarious observation of parental conflict). Not meant to harm people. Acceptable prognosis for treatment. Firefighter who sets fires or adult/juvenile “would be hero types” - seeking the attention of peers or the community in order to discover or help put out fires they start. Traditional early childhood diagnosis for abused children.

4. Delinquent Type

Includes the fire for profit type and the cover another crime type. Interest in vandalism and hate crimes is noteworthy. As juveniles, this type shows little empathy for others. Shows little conscious. Juvenile types rarely harm others with fire. Significant property damage is common. As adults, significant percentage harm others. Firesetting behavior is more easily extinguished than other personality and behavior problems that usually accompany the firesetting.

5. Severely Disturbed Type

Includes those juveniles who seek to harm themselves, paranoid, and psychotic types, for which the fixation of fire may be a major factor in the development of a mental disorder. Sensory aspects of the fire are sufficiently reinforcing to cause fires to be frequently set. Pyromaniac is a sub-type – sensory reinforcement is often powerful enough for significant harm to occur. Prognosis is guarded with this group.

6. Cognitively Impaired Type

Includes the retarded and the organically impaired types. Tends to avoid intention harm, lack acceptable judgment. Significant property damage is common. Prognistically, they are acceptable therapy candidates. Also included in this group are persons with severe learning disabilities, those affected by fetal alcohol syndrome, or by drugs taken by their mother during pregnancy.

7. Sociocultural Type

Includes the uncontrolled mass hysteria type, the attention to cause type, the religious type, and the satanic type. Arsonists who set fires primarily for the support they get for doing so by groups within their communities. Those who may set fires in the midst of civil unrest, and are either enraged and enticed by the activity of others and follow suit, or set fires with deliberation in order to call attention to the righteousness of their cause. Frequently lose control and harm others. Most are amenable to treatment.
Note. From “A Model for the Qualitative Analysis of Child and Adult Fire Deviant Behavior,” by K. Fineman, 1995, American Journal of Forensic Psychology, 13, p. 34. Adapted with permission of the author.

Obviously, there is much more here than meets the eye, and understanding the etiology of firesetting behavior has taken years of study. However, Slavkin offers some overlying characteristics of juvenile firesetters. One caveat though. As with any list of "signs and symptoms" of any disease, the presence or absence of any one, or any group of characteristics does not necessarily mean that a child will evolve into a firesetter. These characteristics are those that years of study have identified in firesetters after the fact:

A tendency toward aggression especially when seen in tandem with noncompliance and disruption;
Delinquency, including mildly deviant behavior, especially when coupled with typical teenage boredom;
Straight out deviancy such as vandalism and willful property destruction;
Externalization of emotion, suggesting maladaptive ways of expressing negative feelings;
Poor social awareness and ability to express oneself;
Attention seeking behavior;
Limited family sociability, laxed discipline at home, limited parental acceptance and family affiliation;
Children and adolescents who come from neglectful or abusive homes;
Economic stress;
School problems - grades, behavior, attendance;
Peer problems - lack of significant friendships, peer relationships;
Peer pressure and negative peer group activities;
Feelings of lack of control over life.

While the list is by no means exhaustive, we see a lot of these behaviors and attitudes in adolescents today. Couple with the increasing numbers of troubled families struggling just to survive coming into contact with our schools, being able to identify and address students with considerable needs is becoming a bigger and bigger part of our daily responsibilities.
It was interesting to note, as I was researching this post, I found it is easy to draw parallels with other violent behaviors we see in schools today. The two tortured souls who reigned terror on Columbine High School, not only used conventional firearms to injure and kill innocent victims, but also attempted to use fire, in the form of propane bombs meant to explode and set fire to the school. The profile of the bully, and many victims of bullying can easily include the list we see above. As a team, administrators, teachers, support staff and parents need to be aware of the increasing needs of our students and be able to respond when those red flags pop up.

A School Rethinks Their Tornado Plan

2011-06-01T10:40:00.002-04:00

The video provides some insights learned by the Green County Middle School. The day the tornado hit, only a teacher and her husband were in the school. They survived, "Thank goodness for tornado drills," according to teacher Joyce Roberts, featured in the news video. Training students and staff to react when threatening weather strikes is important. The question raised in the video, "What happens if..." is a good question to think about when planning. Although this tornado occurred outside of school hours, would we be ready to respond adequately if a tornado strikes the school in the middle of the school day?

When planning for tornado drills consider the following:

Move students and staff away from windows and doors, as well as outside walls.
The lowest, interior hallways in the building are preferred. Below ground level is best.
Teach students the "duck and cover" method of protecting their heads and bodies when sheltering for the storm.
Have several means of notification for building occupants. The PA system may not work if power is knocked out by the storm.
Develop and practice drill procedures including accounting for students, notifying parents and establishing processes for reuniting students with their parents.

Tornados can and do hit schools. The lesson from Green County, NC: Have a plan, practice it, review and revise it as needed. Ask the "What if..." questions.

Schools Out for Summer!

2011-05-31T10:17:00.003-04:00

It's summer time. Time to pack up the books, lock up the classrooms and head out to summer fun and jobs. As we say good bye to graduating seniors, we wish them all the luck in the world as they embark on the journey of the rest of their lives. For some, it will be a short summer of vacationing with family or friends, and then off to college. For others, they'll be out there, if they haven't already, looking for summer employment. Have we done our jobs as career and technical educators to prepare our students to enter summer employment? Many of our students will be looking toward seasonal jobs with parks and recreation. Others will be serving us at our favorite fast food stops, while still others will be strapping on tool belts to work at construction, roofing and other skilled and semi-skilled positions. Hopefully, they'll carry with them the safety lessons we've taught them over the last nine months to their summer jobs.

According to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) an estimated 1.9 million teens between the ages of 15 and 17 worked in the US in 2009. This number is assumed to be much higher because of the large number of unreported youth who work in agriculture. Additionally, younger workers (those under 15) are likewise unaccounted for. As many of us in education already know, because of unique biological, emotional and psychological factors youthful workers have a high degree of risk of being injured on the job. According to the same CDC website, 34 minors - youth under 18, were killed in occupational accidents in 2008. In 2007, over 48,000 were injured on the job and required treatment in the emergency department. The number of total injuries is estimated to be much higher, because many injuries are not treated and therefore not reported by hospital emergency rooms. It is important, then for us as career and technical teachers, mentors and leaders to make sure that students who will be entering the workforce are trained and given the tools to keep them safe on the job.

For employers who may be hiring teen workers this summer, a review of the federal and state child labor laws is in order. The US Department of Labor provides a web page that reviews applicable federal labor laws as well as provide links for individual state child labor laws. New DoL rules are outlined in several fact sheets available on the DoL website. Employers who will rely on teen workers this summer should review the Child Labor Laws for their state. In addition to the specific state laws that apply, the US Department of Labor issued some valuable fact sheets pertaining to specific jobs such as employment guides for amusement parks, restaurants, farms and agriculture, grocery stores, health care and recreation. The DoL website, Youth Rules offers guidance to students, teachers, parents and employers for students entering the summer workforce. A comprehensive list of Department of Labor partners and websites for employers can be found here.

NIOSH provides two excellent introductory videos for youth entering the workforce. Teen Workers: Real Jobs Real Risks offers an overview of teen employment, and a supplemental video The Hazards We Face in the Workplace offers teens a sampling of the risks and hazards present in the workplace. Another excellent training resource for teen workers that I've recommended many times on this blog, Career Safe online safety training for students offers a 5 and 10 hour OSHA based safety training course that involves student in interactive learning about OSHA workplace rules and regulations and preventing job related injuries and illnesses. For a nominal fee, students receive training presented by young peers in an upbeat, easy to follow format. Students who complete the course receive either the 5 hour Career Safe card or an OSHA 10 Hour general industry or construction industry card. Students who have completed the on-line course and received their cards have reported back to us that often that card has made the difference between being hired over other candidates for jobs.

As our students prepare to enter the work force, it is our duty to make sure that they have the education, knowledge and skills needed for the job. Part of that education is detailed knowledge of safety on the job for the many varied positions available to them. By setting the example in our teaching shops, we give our students a head start on the rest of the workforce and encourage them in the words of the Career Safe curriculum to "Start Safe-Stay Safe." Have a great summer everyone!

OSHA Launches Program to Protect Workers from Heat Related Illness

2011-05-05T09:01:00.000-04:00

In a few weeks, many of our students will be starting summer jobs. It's an opportunity for them to enter the workforce and get a taste of the day-to-day grind. Summer employment brings with it many benefits and hazards. Among them, one of the more prevalent hazards for both work and play are heat related illness and injuries. People working or playing in the heat of the summer day have to watch out for many heat related injuries which include sunburn, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and the very dangerous and could be life threatening heat stroke. Preplanned prevention is the only way to stave off these dangerous conditions. Planning the day to include frequent breaks out of the heat of the sun, plenty of fluids and knowing the signs and symptoms of heat related illness is important to those who find themselves working in the conditions found in most of the 50 states.

The US Department of Labor, through the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is launching a new campaign to prevent heat related injuries amongst workers who work outside during the summer. Every year thousands of people are affected by heat related illness ranging from heat exhaustion and cramps to the more serious condition of heat stroke. While relatively easy to treat, heat exhaustion left untreated can quickly evolve into the more serious and even life threatening heat stroke. Heat exhaustion and cramps occur when the body, during strenuous activity such as work or play in hot humid conditions causes the body to overheat. The body's natural defense against overheating, sweating, is unable to cool the body fast enough to prevent damage from happening. As overheating worsens, damage to internal organs and the brain occur, making the condition life-threatening over a short period of time. This summer, many of our students, and some of our staff members will be venturing out to outdoor activities such as yard work, summer jobs and summer play. Keeping hydrated and cooling the body temperature is just as important whether you are earning a paycheck or besting your friends at nine innings of baseball.

Another resource, produced by the US Army, is the Work, Rest and Water Consumption Table which recommends the amounts of water and rest an individual needs when working in different temperature ranges. While it is applicable to soldiers wearing battle dress uniform (BDU), it is a good guide for employees working for extended periods of time in hot weather. For example, an individual doing strenuous work in 82 to 85 degree weather, which is pretty normal for the northeastern United States, should have 30 minutes rest for every 30 minutes worked, and consume at least one quart of water per hour. Supervisors and employees alike should become familiar with the signs and symptoms of heat illness and be sure to include adequate breaks and copious hydration.

The resources at the OSHA website include a sampling of heat related injuries reported to the administration, illustrated guides and posters for employers to share with employees and multiple links to web-based resources for education and information. As career and technical educators, as we prepare our students to enter the workforce with marketable skills, we need to also equip them with the knowledge and resources to work safe and play safe!

Safety is NO Accident - National Public Health Week - April 4-10, 2011

2011-04-11T12:31:00.006-04:00

Although I'm a little late with this, I thought that the resource and information was important enough to pass along anyway. Any time is a good time for safety! It's been awhile since I've posted anything here. I also encourage you to follow the safety articles that I've linked in my posts through my Twitter and Facebook accounts @GZarella and GerardZarella respectively, and to look through the list of posts near the bottom left of this blog.

At home, on the road, at work or at play, a trip and fall, a momentary distraction from the road, sports related injuries and a million other preventable accidents happen to people everyday. Every year nearly 150,000 people die from injuries and almost 30 million require medical care from the hospital emergency room. On the job, at home or at play safety should be first and foremost in our minds. The direct and indirect costs of injuries impact how we live, work and play and so our attention to safety needs to be first in all the spheres of our lives.

Taking simple preventative action can often not only prevent an accident, but can also protect us in the unfortunate event that an accident befalls us during our daily activities. Using ladders and step stools as opposed to standing on chairs, choosing the right tool for the job, choosing and wearing proper protective equipment when participating in sports activities, using machinery or doing hazardous jobs, and learning the proper operating techniques and using machine guarding all help us to stay safe while at work and play.

During last week's National Public Health Week, sponsored by American Public Health Association, the APHA gave people the opportunity to share NPHW's 2011 Partners Toolkit, a helpful publication that gives interested parties guidelines to follow to promote the NPHW campaign. The forty-seven page publication offers suggestions for promoting safety at home, work, on the move, at play and in your community. It likewise offers suggestions to best utilize social networking media such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and others to get the word out, as well as helping to prepare one for interaction with TV, radio and traditional print media. Another unit provides sample letters and dialogues to use when talking to your legislators about promoting safety. Public education is important to the mission of promoting safety in all areas of our lives.

To keep this post in the spirit of the blog, we need to pay special attention to our students, the youthful workers that will be hitting the streets in just a few more weeks. Annually, traumatic injuries caused by accidents and violence are the leading cause of injuries and death for young people between 10 and 24 years of age. Secondary students, those in mid- to late teen years are at highest risk, topping out the statistical curve for accidental injury. Whether at home doing daily chores, at work engaging in the multiple tasks and duties that constitute our jobs, or participating in our favorite sports and past-times, Safety IS NO Accident! Work Safe - Play Safe!

Teen Worker Safety - Another Education Resource

2011-03-05T09:54:00.002-05:00

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) is offering the "Target Teen Work Safety Tool Kit" as a free interactive tool for students, teachers, parents and employers to use to promote safety among young workers. Every year, according to CDC studies, young workers, 15-19 account for the greatest rate of injuries for all age groups. Teen workers historically have represented the highest rates of recorded injuries, but most authorities agree that the numbers are probably under reported.

According to 2009 statistics published by the the CDC indicate that teens suffer the greatest number of falls and sustain the greatest number of injuries to the limbs, arms and legs. Students working in leisure and hospitality, as well as retail seem to be at the highest risk, because the injury rate mirrors the employment rate of youthful workers employed in those industries, as shown on the accompanying pie graph from the CDC website . I don't think that anyone will deny, that we all need to do more to educate student workers and prevent work-related injury and illness across the board. From a "bottom-line" prospective, it just makes sense to decrease the rate of injury and therefore the direct and indirect costs associated with employee injuries in general.

The toolkit offered by ASSE, as noted on their website contains:

•ASSE’s Interactive Online Zombie Video Game

•ASSE Young Worker Safety Brochures and Safety Tips
•The NIOSH Talking Safety Guide
•Quizzes and Handouts
•Power Point Presentations from ASSE and NIOSH
•ASSE News and Articles on Young Worker Safety
•Links to Additional Resources

An additional resource for teen worker safety training that I've enthusiastically endorsed on this blog before is CareerSafe an online interactive, OSHA based safety training course. Our students deserve the best safety preparation that we can give them, and these two resources, in my humble opinion, are at the top of the list. What are you doing to encourage your students to "work safe, play safe?"

PA Department of Health Announces "Quit for Love."

2011-02-28T11:07:00.000-05:00

Feb. 11, 2011

Pennsylvania to Offer Free Nicotine Patches Beginning Feb. 14‘Quit for Love’ Campaign Encourages Smokers to Put Loved Ones First

Harrisburg – The Department of Health will offer free nicotine replacement therapy, or NRT, kits starting on Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, to help Pennsylvanians who want to give up tobacco in the name of love.

Under the “Quit for Love” campaign, the kits will be available through the state’s Free Quitline (1-800-QUIT-NOW) for approximately six to eight weeks, or while supplies last.

“Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death and disease,” said acting Secretary of Health Dr. Eli Avila. “According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly one of every five deaths nationwide is attributed to smoking. Quitting tobacco is a major step toward improving your overall health. Do it for yourself, for your friends, for your loved ones.”

“We know that most people will try to quit an average of five to eight times before they succeed,” said Leslie Best, Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Bureau Director. “Counseling coupled with the NRT increases the chances of success.”

Individuals interested in receiving a free, four-week NRT kit should call the PA Free Quitline, 1-800-QUIT NOW (1-800-784-8669). Quit coaches will ask callers if they are ready to set a quit date and have any medical conditions that would rule out the safe use of nicotine patches. Callers will then enroll in a series of free counseling sessions.

The NRT kits are paid for by funding from the federal stimulus program and the Master Settlement Agreement. Under this agreement, 46 states -- including Pennsylvania -- receive payments from the tobacco industry to offset smoking-related medical costs and to help reduce the use of tobacco products.

Additional resources and information can be found online at www.DeterminedToQuit.com. The website provides guidance in developing a quit plan, a quit companion and calculator, and video blogs of other Pennsylvania residents sharing their own stories about quitting tobacco. There is also information for friends and family members of smokers who wish to support their loved one in their attempt to quit.

For more information about the state’s cessation resources, call the PA Free Quitline at 1-800-QUIT-NOW (1-800-784-8669) or visit www.DeterminedToQuit.com.

The Department of Health’s anti-tobacco efforts are intended to help individuals to quit—or never start—using tobacco products, and to curb the retail sale of tobacco to minors.

Media contact: Yasmin Coleman or Brandi Hunter-Davenport, 717-787-1783

February Is National Teen Violence Awareness & Prevention Month

2011-02-18T09:51:00.003-05:00

The Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence advises from their website, "National Teen Dating Violence Awareness and Prevention Month is a time when anti-violence groups across the country focus on efforts to help adolescents understand the warning signs of an unhealthy relationship and avoid these hazards."

According to the website, dating violence, teen obsession and possessive behavior and rejection are well documented on websites such as the Center for Disease Control and the Violence Against Women On-Line Resources website.

PCADV offers the February issue of their newsletter, a primer on the teen dating phenomenon including a primer on "Dating Violence-101, What Teens Need to Know, How Friends Can Help, What Parents and Teachers Need to Know, and information about where to get more help. The newsletter offers many helpful links to companion websites such as http://www.breakthecycle.org/dating-violence-101 and http://www.vaw.umn.edu/documents/inbriefs/teendatingviolence/teendatingviolence-color.pdf.

Breakthecycle.org offers these 10 warning signs of an abusive relationship:

Ten Warning Signs of Abuse

While there are many warning signs of abuse, here are ten of the most common:
1. Checking your cell phone or email without permission
2. Constant put-downs
3. Extreme jealousy or insecurity
4. Explosive temper
5. Financial control
6. Isolating you from family or friends
7. Mood swings
8. Physically hurting you in any way
9. Possessiveness
10. Telling you what to do

From nomoredv.com - Common clues that indicate a teenager may be experiencing dating violence:

Physical signs of injury

Truancy, dropping out of school

Failing grades

Indecision

Changes in mood or personality

Use of drugs/alcohol

Pregnancy

Emotional outburst

Isolation

Encourage any student who you think may be being victimized in an abusive relationship to seek help.

ACTE :: FY 2011 CTE Funding Fight

2011-02-14T14:38:00.001-05:00

ACTE :: FY 2011 CTE Funding Fight

The Association for Career and Technical Education needs our help to fight Perkins funds budget cuts planned by the Congress. Directly from the ACTE website 10 +1 good reasons to continue funding career and technical education through the Perkins funding stream:

• Cuts to CTE programs, like Perkins Tech Prep will reduce the number of educated, skilled workers at a time when the nation needs to create jobs and rebuild its economy.

• The elimination of the Perkins Tech Prep programs represents a cut of 8 percent to the Perkins Act, one of the only federal programs that helps to build the capacity of high schools and postsecondary institutions to educate students for the careers of the 21st century.

• Career and technical education is engaging students to help them better understand and apply academics, goals that need to be reached if the nation is to graduate students who will be effective in the workplace and keep the United States economically competitive.

• The Tech Prep program specifically is required to have a rigorous curriculum and connects secondary and postsecondary programs to help more students seamlessly transition to postsecondary education and earn postsecondary certificates and degrees, the very goals that Congress and many states are seeking to achieve.

• A cut in Perkins funding will result in severe consequences for students and the nation’s economy. Schools will lose professional development, curtail efforts to ensure students have access to the latest technology and equipment, be forced to reduce the integration of academic and technical integration and offer fewer services to students.

• Across the country, unemployment levels are still high, but there are jobs available for individuals with the right skill sets. CTE works to ensure that students have the academic, technical and employability skills necessary for true career readiness—and needs the support of the federal government.

• Cutting important education and training at a time when many adults are trying to recover and reemploy after the economic downturn is unacceptable. The cuts to these programs are the wrong move at the wrong time.

• Perkins funding has remained stagnant for a number of years while demand for career and technical education has increased. Losing funding now would be devastating to CTE programs.

• Community and technical colleges are seeing some of the most significant enrollment increases in years and students are seeking education and training from these institutions due to the value of the education. These institutions are relying on education and labor funds to serve students next year.

• Business and industry report that many applicants come seeking employment without the full set of skills (academic, employability and technical) required for today’s jobs. Education and labor programs are the very ones teaching these skills.

• The cuts to education and employment programs come as state budgets are facing significant budget shortfalls. It is unlikely that states will be able to replace the funding, which means effective education and employment strategies will end. This will exacerbate, not improve the economy.

While budget cuts have been promised by both the new Congress and the President, they will hopefully think twice before making cuts in education. Contact your congressional representatives today.
http://www.senate.gov/ http://www.house.gov/

Social Networking and Emergency Management in School

2011-02-13T09:01:00.010-05:00

Recent events in Egypt and other parts of the world have taught us the important role that social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Blogger and other social networks, are having in our everyday lives. Internet based social networks have become a daily, integral part of our lives. As we've learned from the experience of a few million Egyptians, social networking has changed the face of history. Wael Ghomin, unlikely Egyptian cyber-activist mobilized an entire country and brought together a vast and varied society to overthrow a 30 year old authoritarian government. Monitoring the Twitter feeds of Mr. Gohim and his compatriots easily demonstrates that they are now using the same networks to rebuild their country.

The power of social networking over the Internet and now our smart phones can not be denied. The ability to get important information to many people in a short amount of time was demonstrated day after day, as @Ghomin as he is known on the upward trending Twitter network, and his many cohorts in the revolution, mobilized and organized multitudes from a wide geographic area to give a wake-up call to a government who for thirty years did not fear the power of the people to overcome.

Local, state and federal emergency planners have been for some time now recognizing the power of social media to get important information out to people in times of crisis. Eric Holderman, writing in his blog, Disaster Zone, advocates for FEMA to continue to adapt to using social media in times of crisis not only to get information out, but also to get important and critical information back to the agency. In his short article, Twitter is not another type of fax machine, Holderman advocates for the federal government to learn to use social media as two way street for the exchange of information in times of emergency.

Craig Fugate, Administrative Director of FEMA, likewise advocates for expanded use of social media in emergency management. The fact that Director Fugate is a regular contributor to Twitter and the FEMA Blog, demonstrate his dedication to utilizing social networking as a tool for emergency preparedness and management.

From an on-line survey, the American Red Cross found that many people would turn to social networks on their computers and phones to reach out during times of crisis. Not only to get information about ongoing situations, but also to send information to emergency responders. There are well documented cases of people using their phones and computers to report on and receive reports of disasters as they are unfolding. As the survey indicates people would and are using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter to:

Get information about things like shelters, availability of emergency services, direction to recovery facilities;
Transmit information about people needing assistance, closed roads, affected infrastructure, potential crimes and ongoing changes in conditions;
Use social networking like Facebook and Twitter as alternatives to compromised land line and cellular phone networks;
Use social networking to contact loved ones to assure their safety and let family and friends know that they are ok.

This begs the question, if it's good enough for FEMA, local emergency management and evolving democracies, why haven't schools jumped on the bandwagon? In a blog article written several years ago, Dennis McDonald outlines several reasons, not unlike those above, that schools should consider inclusion of social media networks in their emergency response plans:

Why “monitor and participate”? There are several reasons:
■ Authorities may need to employ these channels to communicate necessary facts and information.

■ Authorities will learn things from those closest to the situation.

■ Authorities will learn of potential inaccuracies that need to be addressed (e.g., rumor control)

■ Affected populations need to be aware that authorities are paying attention to them and are being responsive to their concerns.

While there are some sound reasons for keeping social networking out of our classrooms, there is also a considerable argument for using social networks as tool to communicate with our stakeholders, students and parents in times of crisis. There are a ton of opinions and guidelines on integrating technology in our emergency planning for schools. The first step though, is to sit down with your local planning committees and decide, "How can we make this work for us?"
And by the way, if we as administrators and policy makers in CTE schools are not getting the message from social networks, you can bet your paycheck that our students are!

New Drug of Abuse....Bath Salts!

2011-02-01T10:15:00.005-05:00

In mid-December, the US Department of Justice released a Drug Alert Watch to law enforcement and public health officials warning of the ascendancy of a new drug of abuse being promoted as "Bath Salts." According to the release, and other reports, Bath Salts are appearing in the same retail outlets, head shops, service stations, convenient stores, and over the Internet, as did K2 also known as Spice, the new synthetic forms of cannabis that have been on the market for some time now.

From the DoJ Drug Alert, the drug is marketed in 50-500 milligram packets, with the smaller selling for between $25 and $50, making it affordable and available to our students. The availability is becoming more common, and knowledge of the drug more common as students have been overheard discussing the pros and cons of the product. Directly from the DoJ publication:

"Effects include agitation, an intense high, euphoria, extreme energy, hallucinations, insomnia, and making abusers easy to anger." The alert further informs us that, "Common brand names include Blue Silk, Charge+, Ivory Snow, Ivory Wave, Ocean Burst, Pure Ivory, Purple Wave, Snow Leopard, Stardust (Star Dust), Vanilla Sky, White Dove, White Knight, and White Lightening. In central Pennsylvania, these substances have been offered for sale under the brand name “Blizzard.” The Blizzard brand is described as a white, odorless, fine-grained powder similar in appearance to baby powder or flour ... Many other brands are a tan or brown powdery substance."

Packaging obviously aimed at our kids!

The effects, described by abusers mirror those of methamphetamine, ecstasy and cocaine. Some have called it "fake cocaine." It is generally sold as a white, tan or brown powder in small packets with the consistency of flour or baby powder. The products have been available in Great Britain for several years, where overdoses and fatalities have been reported.

The growing concern with abuse has caused the British government to ban bath salt products that contain the active ingredient MDPV (3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone) and/or mephedrone. The US Drug Enforcement Agency considers Bath Salts a "drug of concern." A quick Google search shows what a pervasive problem is emerging from these new designer drugs.

Something else to watch for coming through the front doors of our schools.

2011-01-22T07:40:00.000-05:00

The Association for Career and Technical Education has invited students to write an essay in honor of former ACTE Senior Director of Communications Cliff Weiss (1951-2004). This year’s Cliff Weiss Essay topic is "What does this year's theme, Learning Today, Earning Tomorrow, mean to you?"

From the ACTE blog, The contest is open to secondary and postsecondary students taking at least one course in CTE. In the essay, students should describe how participating in CTE today provides them with the skills and knowledge to be successful in their future careers. ACTE will use the winning essays to inform policymakers, parents and educators about CTE’s role in preparing students to compete in the global economy.

The essays should be between 400-600 words, in Microsoft Word format, and e-mailed by Wednesday, February 16, 2011, to essaycontest@acteonline.orgsecondary and postsecondary student winner will each receive an award of $250 in addition to having their essay published on ACTE’s Web site.

For complete rules on the contest, please visit ACTE’s Cliff Weiss Essay Contest Web page or contact Sabrina Kidwai at skidwai@acteonline.org. Winners will be announced at the end of February.

OSHA Announces New Residential Construction Fall Protection Directive

2011-01-19T20:08:00.000-05:00

In December, 2010 OSHA announced a new directive that rescinds a previous ruling (Interim Fall Protection Compliance Guidelines for Residential Construction, Standard 03-00-001) that allowed residential builders to by-pass stricter fall protection rules. According to an article posted in the December issue of EHS Today, OSHA is rescinding the 1995 policy that exempted residential builders from complying with more stringent rules of 29 CFR 1926.501 (b)13. As of the current ruling, builders will now have to provide for fall protection described in 1926.501(b)13. The ruling still allows builders to demonstrate exceptions if fall protection procedures would create a greater danger or is not feasible. The burden would remain on the builder to provide one of the prescribed alternatives along with a site specific fall protection plan.

The article quotes OSHA Administrator, “Fatalities from falls are the number one cause of workplace deaths in construction. We cannot tolerate workers getting killed in residential construction when effective means are readily available to prevent those deaths,” said OSHA Administrator Dr. David Michaels. “Almost every week, we see a worker killed from falling off a residential roof. We can stop these fatalities, and we must.” The authors further quote statistics from the Bureau of Labor that report that 40 residential construction workers are killed a year as a result of falls from residential roofs. The article goes onto say that more than a third of the fatal falls are suffered by Latino workers who often lack access to adequate safety information and procedures.

Builders will have six (6) months to comply with the new directive. OSHA offers information for compliance on its website. Fall protection has always been part of our building construction curricula, and now it is receiving a renewed emphasis as the new rules come into effect. Many of our students will become the roofers and builders we see out there next summer.

Accidents Waiting to Happen: 5 Conversations that Drive Workplace Safety

2011-01-16T21:04:00.002-05:00

In an ezine safety article, authors Joseph Grenny and David Maxfield write in a 2010 EHS Today magazine article, "The vast majority of the gains in workplace safety can be attributed to improvements in equipment, policies, systems and training. However, these formal tools often fail to address informal, cultural challenges."

One of the biggest challenges identified by Grenny and Maxfield are the attitudes that are ingrained into workers by workplace culture that places more importance on things like the bottom line, incompetence, exceptions, tradition and unreasonable expectations. Through research that they completed, they found "five conversations that drive workplace safety:"

1. Get it done. Unsafe practices that are justified by tight timelines.

This one emphasises the bottom line.

2. Undiscussed incompetence. Unsafe practices that stem from skill deficits that can't be discussed.

Many coworkers feel uncomfortable addressing the incompetence of fellow workers in a constructive manner.

3. Just this once. Unsafe practices that are justified because they are exceptions to the rule.

According to the research, workers reported using the "just this once" excuse to correct mistakes or salvage missed opportunities.

4. This is overboard. Unsafe practices that bypass precautions management or workers consider excessive.

Rules, especially new ones and procedures are ignored in favor of tradition.

5. Are you a team player? Unsafe practices that are justified for the good of the team, company or customer.

Safety is given a back seat to satifisfying the demands of the "team," or the customer, or the company.

Regardless of what excuse we use, we've got to be careful when discussing safety procedures especially with students. Not only are the above five conversations overheard on the plant floor, they've been overheard in some CTE shops. "Oh, we don't do it that way, because you don't see it in the field." "Just this once, we'll do it this way." "We've never done it that way before."

According to the authors,

In the United States, many of the most obvious workplace threats have been reduced or eliminated, making American workers far safer than at any time in the past. Time lost due to workplace injuries dropped a whopping 54.9 percent between 1991 and 2008. These improvements were seen across all industries, geographic regions and companies of various sizes.

But their research indicates that while our equipment, processes and procedures are improving safety, we are still allowing our coworkers to rationalize shortcuts to safe operations. What are we telling our students?

Tylenol Recall

2011-01-15T08:36:00.001-05:00

Here is some important information about the recent recall of Tylenol and other common over the counter medications. For a list of products from the McNeil Products recall page follow the link. For frequently asked questions about the recall click here. I posted this for everyone to see, particularly because of the number of children's medications that are included in the recall. Better to be safe than sorry.

New Semester, New Students

2010-12-07T12:41:00.000-05:00

As some of you may know, I am an enthusiastic proponent of having students complete CareerSafe (r) online safety training. CareerSafe online training is an OSHA authorized, web-based training system geared toward high school students. Our students have received invaluable training from this resource for the last 6 years. We've run close to twelve hundred students through the courses, with excellent results. CareerSafe offers three basic courses, the CareerSafe 5 hour basic course, CareerSafe OSHA General Industry Course and the CareerSafe OSHA Construction Industry Course. The two OSHA courses require 10 hours of seat time for students to complete the instruction. CareerSafe has also implemented some rules directly from OSHA including time limits and grade parameters for students to receive an OSHA training card and certificate.

The point of this post today, though was to pass on some good information that I received from CareerSafe today, as part of their semester promotion. As we prepare to receive students for the second semester of school, this year, (and parenthetically, we should have done this for the first group in September as well,) CareerSafe recommends preparing students for safety in the shop by covering these classroom tips with students:

Educate students on the location and use of all safety and emergency equipment prior to classroom/lab activities and provide students with verbal and written safety procedures to follow in the event of an emergency/accident.
Know the location of and how to use the cut-off switches and valves for the water, gas, and electricity in the classroom/lab.
Know the location of and how to use all safety and emergency equipment (e.g., safety shower, eyewash, first-aid kit, fire blanket, and fire extinguishers).
Keep a list of emergency phone numbers near the phone.
Conduct appropriate safety and evacuation drills on a regular basis.
Explain, in detail, to students the consequences of violating safety rules and procedures and have students sign a form indicating they agree and understand the safety policy.
Provide detailed written and demonstrated descriptions of how to use each tool and piece of equipment in the classroom/lab that your students will be working with before they begin their work.

The CareerSafe motto, "Start Safe - Stay Safe - Career Safe" should be the mantra we use with our students everyday to be sure that everyone has a positive, safe and healthy experience in our shops and classrooms.

Preventable Injuries 101

2010-11-03T09:24:00.001-04:00

Falls from standing on tables and chairs are a very common preventable injury. Secretaries, custodians, students and teachers, and dare I say some of us at times, have all fallen, bad pun intended, for the bad practice of using a chair or table to stand on to fetch something from the top shelf, or replace that light bulb, or whatever. The chair is convenient and quick. But NOT safe! John Stains, Loss Prevention Specialist, with the Pennsylvania School Board Associations-Insurance Trust offers the following suggestions to assure that employees and students are opting to use safe step stools or ladders in lieu of standing on tables and chairs:

To help reduce the frequency of these types of injuries, the following actions should be taken:

Develop and communicate a rule to all staff that the use of chairs, tables, desks, and other furniture or fixtures to hang, install, or access overhead items is prohibited.Provide step stools or step ladders in convenient locations.
They should be appropriate for the typical heights the staff members should need to reach.
Instruct staff members to call the custodial staff if a step stool or step ladder is not readily available.
Finally, to be effective, the rule will need to be enforced.

Although the use of step stools and step ladders requires a reasonable degree of care, they are a better choice than the inappropriate use of chairs, tables, and desks to reach overhead items.

Students and staff alike, should be encouraged to use step-stools and ladders when their work requires them to work above their normal reach.

Another PennDOT Travel Safety Tip

2010-11-03T08:20:00.003-04:00

Allison Wenger, PennDOT Press Officer provides the following travel tips for would-be holiday travelers:

"While you are traveling over the Thanksgiving holiday, make sure everyone from infants to grandparents is properly restrained. In a 30 mile per hour crash, an unrestrained adult is thrown with a force of 3½ tons – about the weight of an elephant. Click It or Ticket and avoid taking a flying elephant along for the ride. Learn more about Pennsylvania’s seat belt laws at www.DriveSafePA.org."

In keeping with the theme of this blog, school safety, this safety tip brings to mind the number of student drivers that we deal with on a regular basis. As we monitor students driving in and out of our school lots, do we observe whether or not they are practicing safe driving such as the ideas suggested by DriveSafePA.org: "Drive Safe PA encourages motorists to avoid life-threatening behaviors such as not wearing a seat belt, driving impaired and driving aggressively." Hopefully most of us are tying the responsibility of safe driving practices into the privileges of driving to school for our students. And, do we as adult drivers set the example?

A Happier Workplace...

2010-10-22T10:05:00.002-04:00

To have a "happy workplace" doesn't mean that we have to live in a Utopian world, full of sugar and spice. The author of the short EHS Today essay, "How to Be Happier at Work (and Create a Happier Workplace)", imparts some interesting ideas from The Business School of Happiness founders Tom and Dian Griesel. First suggestion: Learn to like your boss. At least, as they suggest, learn to respect your boss and co-workers. If you're going to have difference with either, attempt to do so in a forum that encourages diplomacy and mutual respect. If that forum doesn't exist, do what you can to create it. Even some of the most difficult people can be won over with the right combination of respect, finesse and perseverance. Head-butting doesn't work! Some of us have learned that lesson too many times.

According to the author, Laura Walter, the Griesels offer also, that it's important to set the example for your co-workers by being productive, working to full capacity, regardless of what others around you are doing. Learn to control your own behavior. They suggest that improving your own attitude first increases your productivity and self esteem.

The article goes on to list some other ways to improve your workplace atmosphere:

As employees we can:

Make a list of the steps you can take to become more productive and carry them out.
Focus on the most important task at hand and attempt to finish it before moving on.
Avoid chitchat beyond what’s necessary to be social; save gossip for breaks or lunch.
Restrict your personal business to your personal time.

As employers and supervisors we can:

Create an open environment where your employees can express themselves, and communicate with them often.
Encourage suggestions and ideas for improving the workplace.
Offer praise, as well as constructive criticism, early and often. Avoid favoritism.
Deal with all employee issues, problems and conflicts quickly and fairly.
Set a proper example. Leaders need to show why they are the leaders if they expect to have happy, productive employees.

Another important consideration that the Griesels suggest, is that we make sure that we have enough sleep, and are arriving at work rested and ready to go. Lack of sleep and the drain it has on productivity has been covered before, here and here. Maintaining a good diet is equally important. Cheap quick snacks, packed with sugar only tend to drain energy, after that quick spike from processed foods. Consider fresh fruits and vegetables, and drink plenty of water. We've been teaching students the importance of a good diet for a long time now. Most schools require more healthful snacks and cafeteria offerings. We should take our own advice and set the example for students by managing our intake of foods that tend to make us fat and sluggish, instead opting for foods that will increase our energy, attitude and productivity.

Personally, I would add the importance of getting plenty of exercise. It's been proven that simple stretching can often regenerate our bodies in the middle of the day. Following a light lunch with a brisk 10-15 minute walk can work wonders, when the day is dragging on. Keeping our bodies fit and healthy is another step in increasing our own attitude, and being able to survive in the busy workplace.

Life is truly what we make it. Finally, the Griesels offer a piece of advice that our grandmothers have been telling us for years. "Count your blessings." Especially in this day and age, and with an economy that is barely moving along, we're lucky to be working. With a little self-attitude adjustment and a sustained effort, we can make work more enjoyable place to be. And when all else fails, re-read the list of of "Life's Lessons from a 90 Year Old," published on the Griesel's blog. Good stuff! Just what I needed to pick me up today. What's your pick-me-up?

OSHA Launches New Distracted Driving Webpage

2010-10-16T10:19:00.002-04:00

Withrecent passing of Drive Safely Work Week, OSHA launched a new webpage, Distracted Driving, in order to give employers another resource to encourage employees to put down the cell phone and concentrate on driving. Annually, the real losses because of employee accidents impact businesses and schools accross the country. If we expect our students to drive safely and undistracted by cell phones, food and whatever else, then we need to set the example.

National Teen Driver Safety Week - October 17-23, 2010

2010-10-07T09:14:00.003-04:00

Next week will mark National Teen Driver Safety Week. DriveSafePA.org offers many suggestions on how to keep teens safe while driving. One only need make a cursory review of teen driving statistics to see that teenage drivers still rank high on the charts for accidents, injuries and fatalities. Distracted driving ranks among the top of causes of accidents for teens. Couple a car load of young people, the radio blaring, the cell phone ringing and you have a formula for disaster. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) offers a list of factors that put teen drivers at risk:

Teens are more likely than older drivers to underestimate dangerous situations or not be able to recognize hazardous situations.
- Males: In 2006, the motor vehicle death rate for male drivers and passengers ages 15 to 19 was almost two times that of their female counterparts.1
- Teens driving with teen passengers: The presence of teen passengers increases the crash risk of unsupervised teen drivers. This risk increases with the number of teen passengers.5
- Newly licensed teens: Crash risk is particularly high during the first year that teenagers are eligible to drive.
Teens are more likely than older drivers to speed and allow shorter headways (the distance from the front of one vehicle to the front of the next). The presence of male teenage passengers increases the likelihood of this risky driving behavior.
Among male drivers between 15 and 20 years of age who were involved in fatal crashes in 2005, 37% were speeding at the time of the crash and 26% had been drinking.
Compared with other age groups, teens have the lowest rate of seat belt use. In 2005, 10% of high school students reported they rarely or never wear seat belts when riding with someone else.
Male high school students (12.5%) were more likely than female students (7.8%) to rarely or never wear seat belts.
African-American students (12%) and Hispanic students (13%) were more likely than white students (10.1%) to rarely or never wear seat belts.
At all levels of blood alcohol concentration (BAC), the risk of involvement in a motor vehicle crash is greater for teens than for older drivers.10
In 2008, 25% of drivers ages 15 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had a BAC of 0.08 g/dl or higher.
In a national survey conducted in 2007, nearly three out of ten teens reported that, within the previous month, they had ridden with a driver who had been drinking alcohol. One in ten reported having driven after drinking alcohol within the same period.
In 2008, nearly three out of every four teen drivers killed in motor vehicle crashes after drinking and driving were not wearing a seat belt.
In 2008, half of teen deaths from motor vehicle crashes occurred between 3 p.m. and midnight and 56% occurred on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday.

According to the CDC website, teen males with passengers in the car are at the highest risk. Adults can set the example for teens by demonstrating safe driving practices including not being distracted by cell phones, friends and food in the car; driving the speed limit and being courteous to other drivers. We as adults very often set bad examples for the kids watching us. What kind of example are you setting for your teen driver?

Here are some related teen driver links:

http://www.ridelikeafriend.org/index.php
http://www.healthystates.csg.org/NR/rdonlyres/72C6F412-47D3-4433-BA2A-3F72C0B4C885/0/gdltoolkit.pdf

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00224375

http://www.drivesafepa.org/Traffic-Safety-Information-Center/Young-Driver/

Reader David Fructman submitted this link to learn more about teen driver safety week: http://www.teendriverssource.org/more_pages/page/get_behind_national_teen_driver_safety_week_ntdsw_/teen

from the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia - Teen Drivers Source. Thank you David.

A Special Message from PENNDOT - Pennsylvania Department of Transportation

2010-09-15T10:06:00.002-04:00

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation has been sending out brief safety messages to school districts across the commonwealth. Beginning in August, PENNDOT has been sending the short messages in hopes of raising awareness. From their monthly e-mail:

"As part of its ongoing effort to improve highway safety, PennDOT is launching a new initiative this year to provide school districts with brief monthly messages for inclusion on your website or in electronic newsletters. These messages will cover various safety topics from school bus safety to underage DUI to texting and driving. It is our hope that parents and students will benefit from these safety tips."

For August:

August – school bus safety: It’s that time when school buses are everywhere. If a school bus has its lights flashing and stop arm extended, you must stop. The only exception is if you are on the opposite side of a highway divided by a concrete barrier or grassy median. If you are following or traveling alongside a school bus, the law also requires you to stop at least 10 feet away. Learn more about the school bus stopping law and penalties for violations at http://www.drivesafepa.org/.

For September:

September – Underage Drinking and Driving: More than 450 people were killed and another 9,000 were injured as a result of alcohol-related crashes in Pennsylvania last year. Check out http://www.fullapologies.com/ to see the devastating consequences of driving impaired.

Thank you PennDOT for the timely recommendations. I hope to reproduce their monthly messages here. Keep watching!

Respond Non-violently to Violence (When possible)

2010-08-04T09:47:00.003-04:00

I recently received the August issue of "School Safety & Secuirty Alert," published monthly by Center for Education & Employment Law, Malvern PA. Citing information from Gray Ram Tactical Training, team security inspector and police officer Bret Brooks offers some useful recommendations to school officials to intervene before the situation escalates into a violent act. It is a well known fact that if one can intervene and de-escalate a tense situation, a lot of other problems could be avoided. There are many signs and indications that an individual's behavior is escalating toward violence. Those indicators can be used to trigger positive responses to very negative situations. Brooks recommends using two strategies to lessen the impact of violence;

recognize potential indicators of violence, and;
react to those indicators to prevent students from becoming violent.

Brooks goes on to say that when school officials can recognize the signs of impending problems, officials can intervene with specific strategies to head off violence. Knowing and recognizing signs of impending problems is the key. School personnel should look for "verbal" and "non-verbal" cues:

Verbal cues include

an increase in pitch when students speak - this is a reflex of the human body, as throats and vocal chords tighten when we get angry
nervous laughter or laughing at inappropriate times - laughter is a way to release emotions and may also be used to distract adversaries before an attack
masked statements - often sarcastic, students use masked statements to tell you what you want to hear, while using a tone that implies otherwise (Example: "Yeah, OK, I'll sit down.")

2. Non-verbal cues include

clinched fists and wringing hands are common signs of anger - other hand gestures that loosen muscles include popping the knuckles and rubbing hands together
aggressive lower body stance - feet shoulder-width apart with knees slightly bent, and
removing clothing - taking off hats, coats and jackets frees the body from restrictions while punching.

Once we've recognized the signs and signals that something is about to happen, we've got to learn to intervene in a way that is not going to escalate the situation. Obviously, we don't want to antagonize either combatant, and optimally want to de-escalate the situation and move the students back into the day to day routine of school. At the first sign of trouble, the authors recommend several alternatives:

counselling
detention
suspending privileges
positive reinforcement
mentoring
apology letters; and
cool-down sessions.

From another school safety blog Keep Schools Safe we get some intervention techniques intended to de-escalate the situation:

Depersonalize - make the focus on the activity and problem, not the individual
Depreciate the verbal icon - remove the sting of an aggressors verbal attacks, by basically ignoring the verbal stabs, and not allowing the attacker's words to have sway over you
Keep your cool - loosing your cool, looses the battle. Keeping your head on straight, gives you one up on the aggressor
Deflect insults - words don't hurt. Deflecting the insults instead of absorbing them takes the power out of the aggressor's words
Hold your ego at bay - don't let your ego get the best of you. Think and act beyond petty needs of your ego.
Empathize - let the aggressor know that you understand what is bothering him/her
Take nothing personally - see the bullet above, about keeping your ego at bay
Keep your body language in sync with the non-threatening verbiage and tone of voice you have been using
Ask fact-finding questions - express a sincere interest in what is bothering the student
Treat the student with respect - we all tend to respond better to someone whom we perceive as treating us respectfully
Ask instead of command - if possible give alternatives to behavior, such as you can do A or B, as an alternative to C, which will have consequences. Let the student believe that he has choices
Explain why - be reasonable and non-personal
Always approach the situation one emotional level lower than what you perceive the emotions to be - keep your emotions in check, don't allow yourself to be drawn into the aggressor's emotions

There is a good series of articles on the e-How website dealing with de-escalation techniques and basic self defense for dealing with a bully. Physical self defense techniques should not be attempted without training and practice.

CPR Made Easier

2010-07-29T10:09:00.003-04:00

Exciting news from CNN! Well, actually the news comes from The American Heart Association who has finally approved the "Hands Only" version of CPR, for those would-be rescuers, who would likely attempt to save the life of someone who has suffered cardiac arrest, but have not considered it in the past, because the idea of placing their mouths on the face of a victim to perform rescue breaths scares them away. Now AHA is promoting the use of Hands Only CPR.

Two steps can make anyone a life saver. First, when finding someone who is laying unconscious, with no apparent signs of life, breathless and pulseless, Call 9-1-1 - Activate the Emergency Medical System. Second, place the hands on the middle of the sternum, or breast bone, and push hard and fast. According to the article, to the cadence or tempo of the old BeeGee's tune, "Staying Alive."

According to the CNN article, two studies were conducted, that indicated that hands only CPR was effective and does save lives. From CNN:

     "A big part of the thinking is that people are more likely to attempt resuscitation if they don't have to perform rescue breaths, also known as mouth-to-mouth. An unresolved question has been whether chest-compression-only CPR, sometimes known as CCR, is truly just as good as the original. Two large studies published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine seem to provide an answer: yes.
The two papers are remarkably similar in design and results. One was conducted in Washington state -- mostly the Seattle suburbs -- and in London, England. The other study was done in Sweden. In both cases, patients whose hearts had stopped received either traditional CPR, or a version with chest-compressions only. The patients were divided randomly, with 911 dispatchers giving instructions to callers who performed the CPR.
     In the Seattle-London experiment, patients receiving chest compressions without mouth-to-mouth were more likely to survive without brain damage. In both experiments, patients getting chest-compressions only were more likely to survive, period.
     In both cases, the difference was small enough that it was not considered statistically significant. But the authors -- and an accompanying editorial -- all said the findings support the idea that bystanders should be encouraged to do steady chest compressions on victims of apparent cardiac arrest, without pausing to give breaths.

Yes, you can make a difference! Learn CPR today. The life you save tomorrow may be a loved one.

Preventing Accidents for Young Drivers

2010-05-21T10:16:00.014-04:00

According to a recent article published in EHS Today[a] new study finds that young drivers can be trained to recognize and avoid hazardous situations when driving, thereby reducing their risk of accidents. Researchers from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, utilizing a computer based study, investigated if young drivers could be taught to recognize road hazards and avoid costly mistakes.One of the co-researchers, Donald Fisher, PhD Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering stated, “Younger drivers are over-involved in crashes...We determined in previous research that a major reason for this over-involvement is their failure to scan areas of the roadway for information about potential risks in hazardous situations...”

The experiment devised by the team sought to determine if young drivers, through the use of a PC-based training program could be taught to anticipate and avoid road hazards, both on a driving simulator and in real-world driving.Half of the test subjects, 24 young drivers, 18-21 years of age, were provided a Risk Awareness and Perception Training (RAPT) program, developed at the University (for more information visit http://www.ecs.umass.edu/hpl). The other twelve did not participate in the training. The training program exposed the drivers to 9 potential risks of collisions with another vehicles and pedestrians.

Following the training program, all 24 drivers were taken onto local roadways and their eye movements monitored.It was found by the researchers that the drivers who had undergone the training, were able to transfer what they learned to the real-world situation. They were able to do this in both similar situations as were presented during the training session (near transfer) and situations that were not presented as part of the training (far transfer). They felt that they had demonstrated that young drivers could in fact be taught to scan appropriate areas of the roadway, increasing their safe driving behaviors, and avoiding hazards. Researchers are planning to investigate the longevity of the effect. Did the new skills stick with the young drivers over time?

According to the EHS article, the researchers published their results in, "Can Younger Drivers Be Trained to Scan for Information That Will Reduce Their Risk in Roadway Traffic Scenarios That Are Hard to Identify as Hazardous?” The paper, published in Ergonomics (Vol. 52, No. 6, p.p. 657-673, June 2009), discusses a scientific investigation aimed to reduce the risk of vehicle crashes for younger drivers (18-21 years)." The present study has direct implications for the many student drivers that we see every day in our schools.

A similar study also looked at the use of cell phones while driving, and indicated that cell phone use in fact does distract the driver so that they may not see what they are looking at. It demonstrated that many drivers are not capable of multi-tasking while driving, as their attention is divided between driving and talking on the phone, or worse, texting. Recent published reports indicate an increase of accidents caused by cell phone use during driving, and especially texting. The results of these studies has led many state and local governments to enact laws against cell phone use while driving.

Incidentally, hands-off phone use also caused drivers to take their attention from the task of driving and split it with phone use. Scientists are finding that we are not very good at multi-tasking. The problem has been so widespread that the National Safety Council called for a nationwide ban on cell phone use while driving. The white paper is available for free download on the NSC Web site. To learn more about cell phone use while driving, visit http://distracteddriving.nsc.org

Spring Cleaning

2010-05-14T08:23:00.009-04:00

I'm back. Really got to apologize for not being regular with my posts. But over the last few weeks I've received some interesting articles that I'd like to share. With spring in the air, there are lots of topics to touch on, so I guess I'll start with a task that many of us don't like, spring cleaning.

Tom Maclane, author of the monthly School Announcement Monthly Newsletter, provided a couple interesting links concerning spring cleaning. The first, a link to a Suite101.com article by Dorrit Sasson, leads to an outline of "[a] few easy tips how to get your classroom organized." Not only does spring cleaning help us to get reorganized for the rest of the year, it really promotes a safe and efficient classroom by organizing stored materials and getting rid of outdated, useless junk. This is nowhere more apparent than in career centers, where some of us tend to accumulate years worth of stuff over time. A clean and orderly shop/classroom is a safe shop/classroom.

Sasson offers some tips that can be used and adapted to the career center setting. Start with your filing cabinets. Are there old or outdated files that need to be cleaned out? The author offers that we should purge old copies of tests, worksheets, handouts, etc., and keep one master copy, preferably on the computer, stored electronically. Outdated and otherwise unusable materials should be disposed of. Laminating pictures and articles that we want to keep will keep them fresh and save them from turning brittle, tearing and discoloration.

This suggestion translates easily into the career and technical center shop. Are there old, outdated materials that can't or won't be used. What can be recycled? What needs to be discarded? It's easy to fall into the trap of, "I might be able to use that someday..." Some of our shops, garages and even our basements at home are filled with "someday supplies." Someday doesn't usually come, and much of what was stored with good intention, probably needs to be discarded.

This is particularly true when storing used parts, sheet metal, glass, etc. If materials need to be stored they should be stored safely and out of the way. Once old materials are discarded, the teacher can begin to plan out next years needs and acquire and store what will be needed, having created storage room by ridding storage areas of unneeded product.

Sasson further suggests that spring is a good time to reassess teaching goals as well as personal goals and developing a plan to meet those goals. The plan of course, and by design should include acquiring and storing needed materials for future lessons.

In a related article from teachhub.com author E. K. Garcia offers the following suggestions:

Spring cleaning can encompass many things, including:

literally cleaning out the dirt and clutter that has accumulated over the school year
welcoming in the new season indoors, outdoors and in your lessons
remembering and rethinking goals for the year that get lost in the day to day

Additionally, getting students involved takes some of the load off of you, and gives the student a hands-on lesson in planning for the future and economizing limited storage areas. Garcia writes, "The easiest way to do this might be to beef up classroom jobs for the week and take the few minutes before lunch, recess or end of day to tackle those small chores. With 30 hands at work, your classroom will be clean-as-new in no time." Spring cleaning now becomes one of those teaching moments, "A clean shop is a safe shop." Roll up your sleeves, time to get to work.

Change Your Clock - Change Your Battery

2010-03-08T12:43:00.016-05:00

Every year, hundreds of lives and thousands of dollars in property losses are saved because of working smoke detectors. Every home should have working smoke detectors. Detectors should be placed inside each sleeping room, in the corridors outside of sleeping rooms, at the top of the stairway from the basement, and at the top of the stairway from the first to second floors. Each smoke detector, if not hardwired to a power supply must have working batteries. Batteries should be changed at least once a year. A good time to remember to change the batteries in your smoke detector is during the upcoming change to Daylight Savings. Make sure to change the batteries in each smoke detector in your home, at least once a year. This weekend is the perfect time!

Wall and Ceiling Mounted Televisions – Inspection & Maintenance

2010-01-07T12:28:00.005-05:00

The Director of Loss Control at School Claims Service, John Stains, offers the following advice concerning wall and ceiling mounted television sets. Suspending any type of heavy equipment from walls and ceilings presents some very real safety problems, especially if the installations are not done by professionals.

During the past year, a number of incidents were reported that involved wall and ceiling mounted televisions falling from their brackets and striking individuals. These incidents occurred when an employee would be inserting a DVD or VCR, or adjusting the angle of the ceiling or wall mounted television unit.

Following are some examples of these incidents:

The television mount had been removed for renovation and then improperly replaced. When the employee was setting a DVD to play, the bracket came loose causing the television to fall and strike the employee. The cost of this claim was $1,260.00
The employee was adjusting the angle of the television, which was held by a ceiling mount. The television fell from the mount striking the employee. The cost of this claim was $1,500.00
The employee was adjusting the angle of the television, which was held by a wall mount. As the television was being turned, it fell and struck the employee. The cost of this claim was $490.87
Employee was inserting a VCR tape into the VCR player, which caused the television to fall from the mount and strike the employee. The cost of this claim was $10,886.45

To reduce the potential for similar incidents to occur in your school, wall and ceiling mounted televisions should be inspected immediately to ensure that the mounting brackets and related hardware are secure. Thereafter, the ceiling and wall mounted television units, mounting brackets and related hardware should be included in your scheduled inspection and maintenance program.

John L. Stains
Director of Loss Control Services
School Claims Service, LLC
P.O. Box 811New Cumberland, PA 17070-0811
866-401-6600, ext. 115

Controlling the Frequency and Severity of Strain Injuries

2009-11-05T07:49:00.003-05:00

Thanks to John Stains at the School Claims Service for this useful article on reducing the frequency and severity of strain injuries, a common problem in schools, especially for maintenance and materials handling personnel. Johns Contact information appears at the end of the article.

Strain injuries are one of the most frequent and costly type of employee injuries that occur in schools. Although strain injuries more often occur with custodial, maintenance, and cafeteria employees, they can occur within all departments.

Occasionally, a teacher or administrative assistance may need to move a box of material, which results in a strain injury. In these situations, it is best to contact the custodial or maintenance staff to move the material.

Below are some examples of the types of strain injuries that occur and their respective costs, which have a negative effect on your experience modifier and workers’ compensation insurance premium:

· Lifting 5-gallon cans of paint and placing them on a cart (strain of elbow and wrist) - $33,019.00;
· Moving a motor from a table (back strain) - $3,850.00;
· Unloading computers from a truck onto a cart (back strain) - $102,600.00;
· Unloading a lawn mower from a truck (shoulder strain) - $39,358.00;
· Lifting boxes of frozen food (shoulder injury) - $53,927.00;
· Throwing a garbage bag into a dumpster (shoulder injury) - $10,305.00;
· Lifting a case of milk (shoulder injury) - $16,474.00;
· Pulling a cart of copy paper (knee strain) - $11,725.00

Common causes of strain injuries include:

· Improper lifting techniques
· Physical limitations
· Repetitive activities
· Working in awkward positions
· Throwing heavy objects; i.e. trash bags
· Lifting/carrying an object that is too heavy
· Storage conditions

All operations requiring lifting should be fully evaluated.

· Do job descriptions specify the physical demands of the job?
· Have employees been instructed in proper lifting techniques?
· What is being lifted?
· What is the weight?
· What is the configuration of the object/material?
· How far must the object/material be carried?
· Are two people required to lift the object/material?
· Should mechanical material handling equipment be used?

To reduce the frequency and severity of strain injuries, the following controls should be used:

· Use purchasing controls to reduce the weight of material. As an example, instead of purchasing material in 100 pound bags, purchase the material in 50 pound bags.
· Use smaller size garbage bags to help limit the weight.
· Instead of having a trailer load of copy paper delivered at one time, which requires an extensive amount of manual material handling and can create storage issues, have the supply of copy paper delivered in smaller amounts throughout the year based upon need.
· Use material handling equipment such as 2-wheel hand carts, dollies, and pallet jacks whenever possible to reduce the amount of manual material handling.
· Heavy items stored on shelving should be located at a height between the shoulders and waist.
· When lifting, follow proper lifting techniques:
1. Take a balanced stance with your feet about a shoulder-width apart. One foot can be behind the object and the other next to it.
2. Squat down to lift the object, but keep your heels off the floor. Get as close to the object as you can.
3. Use your palms (not just your fingers) to get a secure grip on the load. Make sure you will be able to maintain a hold on the object without switching your grip later.
4. Lift gradually (without jerking) using your legs, abdominal and buttock muscles and keeping the load as close to you as possible. Keep your chin tucked in so as to keep a relatively straight back and neck line.
5. Once you are standing, change directions by pointing your feet in the direction you want to go and turning your whole body. Avoid twisting at your waist while carrying the load.
6. When you put the load down, use these same guidelines in reverse.

John L. Stains
Director of Loss Control Services
School Claims Service, LLC
P.O. Box 811
New Cumberland, PA 17070-0811
866-401-6600, ext. 115

2009-07-02T21:49:00.003-04:00

Definitely my favorite holiday, Independence Day! Outdoor fun, good friends, great food. Many of us will be joining family and friends at the beach, at amusement parks, state and national parks, on the water and in the air. Hopefully we'll remember safety as we enjoy this truly American holiday.

The American Red Cross offers some special tips for everyone to have a fun-filled holiday.

Hot Weather Tips from OSHA

2009-06-26T07:31:00.008-04:00

While most secondary schools have recessed for the summer months, many career and technical centers are operating at full steam, offering summer programs for adults and students. Additionally, if operations are slow, during the vacation months, maintenance personnel have an opportunity to complete all those big jobs that can't be done while there are people in the building, such as painting, refinishing and remodeling. Working during the summer offers some special considerations that the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has outlined in a couple publications.

From the OSHA fact sheet, "Protecting Workers from the Effects of Heat," several safety considerations for working in the heat are outlined. The three main effects of working in heat in order from least to most severe, are:

Heat Rashes - reddening of the skin;
Heat Cramps - muscle pains usually associated with performing strenuous tasks in high heat;
Heat Exhaustion - which is the beginning phases of the body shutting down because of its inability to cool itself adequately, and finally, the most severe;
Heat Stroke - which is the shutting down of vital functions of the body, which can lead quickly to death if not treated quickly.

To keep workers (and this can very well mean ourselves, working at home in our own gardens and yards) safe while working in high heat situations, the OSHA fact sheet recommends:

Start working in heat for short periods of time, gradually extending the exposure time, which will help workers to acclimate to working in high temperatures;
Provide workers with plenty of water or other cool drink (no caffeine or alcohol, though) and encourage them to take a small amount every twenty minutes or so;
Reduce the physical demands of the job by utilizing appropriate tools and equipment for the job, as well as providing relief workers;
Provide recovery areas for workers to recoup for short periods of time. Shaded areas are good, but even better is to allow workers to rehab in an air-conditioned area for a short period of time;
Schedule jobs around the cooler times of the day, such as early morning and evening, avoiding the high heat of mid-day.
Special consideration should be taken for workers who are required to wear special clothing while working. Even at a mere 70 degrees, a worker wearing an encapsulating suit, dust overalls, face masks, etc., can quickly become overheated.

The fact sheet also recommends the following protective equipment for workers exposed to high heat situations:

Where loose, light colored, reflective clothing to minimize the amount of heat being absorbed;
Wearing cotton, and dampening clothing with water help to absorb heat from the body. A damp hand towel on the back of the neck may provide some relief to overheated workers;
Consider specialized water-cooled garments for workers who are constantly exposed to high heat situations.

OSHA also offers a second fact sheet, "Working Out Doors in Warm Climates," which outlines various heat related hazards as well as special summer-time hazards such as biting insects, poisonous plants and of course direct exposure to damaging sunlight and high heat.

EHS Today, an online magazine for environmental health and safety specialists also offers a primer for "Working and playing in outdoor heat." Replacement of fluids, minimizing the time spent in direct sunlight and during the hottest parts of the day, and taking precautions outlined above are all ways of minimizing the risks of working and playing during hot summer months.

Boy, it's hot today. I think it's time to hit the pool... Happy Summer!

Summer Safety - Teen Safety In The Home

2009-06-05T08:25:00.008-04:00

According to a recent article published by EHS Today, a publication for environmental health and safety professionals, as summer approaches and we prepare to release our students for the last time this school year, teen safety at home is often overlooked. We tend to concentrate on making our homes "child-proof," for younger children and toddlers, but overlook the safety needs of our teen aged children.

The article starts, "While many at-home safety tips focus on ways to keep toddlers and young children safe from accidental injuries in the home, University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) psychologist David Schwebel, Ph.D., says that teen safety should not be overlooked."

Schwebel cites an interesting statistic to begin his presentation. "More than 30 percent of fatal teen injuries occur in the home. In fact, unintentional cuts, poisonings, burns and falls result in more than 300,000 annual emergency room visits for 15- and 16-year-olds, according to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. "

Not only do we as adults with teens at home need to worry about typical adolescent risk taking behavior, such as experimentation with drugs and alcohol, reckless driving and hazardous activities such as skateboarding, teens are also subject to many in home hazards such as poisonings, exposed electrical wiring, malfunctioning or misused power tools, and guns and explosives such as fireworks.

In a recent study conducted by the author, he points out that 30 percent of the households he examined with teenagers present had easily accessible firearms, and of those, 20 percent were loaded with ammunition. Thirty percent of the homes also had easily accessed alcohol available.

Schwebel offers the following suggestions to parents for making their homes safer for their teens:

Keep firearms safely stored, unloaded and in locked places where teens can’t access them without parent supervision.
Keep fireworks safely stored where teens can’t access them without supervision.
Keep both indoor and outdoor stairways free of clutter and handrails in working order.
Keep alcohol in locked locations where teens can’t access them.
Keep working smoke and carbon monoxide detectors in the home.

This brings me to my own personal tagline, once again "WORK SAFE:PLAY SAFE" which is particularly applicable to this time of year. Teaching young people that it is as important to stay safe off the job as well as on is important. Risk taking is part of being a teen. After all, that's how we learn to spread our wings and fly. Teaching teens that safety while "playing" is as important as safety while working is important.

Every year, employees, both teens and adults are injured off the job. The direct and indirect costs of an injured employee, whether the injury occurred on the job or during leisure time are important considerations for every manager to contemplate. Encouraging safe behavior during recreational times is assurance that employees will return to work well and ready to work.

Teens especially, and also all employees should be encouraged to observe safety rules during summer activities and utilize safety equipment provided for particular activities, such as helmets for biking and skating, appropriate footwear and dress for outdoor activities such as hiking, and machine guards, safety glasses and hearing protection for hazardous activities such as yard work. Remembering safety rules off the job is as important as remembering and following safety rules on the job.

Work Safe - Play Safe !

H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) Update

2009-05-01T09:02:00.007-04:00

As the number of reported case of H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) increases, health and education officials are recommending steps to decrease the spread of the virus. The Pennsylvania Departments of Health and Education have issued a bulletin offering guidance for dealing with the virus in the school setting. Here are some key points from that document:

Monitoring of students and staff

All schools in the Commonwealth should monitor on a daily basis the (1) absenteeism rate for any reason and (2) the occurrence of respiratory illness among students and staff. The signs and symptoms of swine influenza reported to date are similar to those seen with typical seasonal influenza. The following is the commonly accepted definition for Influenza Like Illness (ILI):

A febrile respiratory illness with cough, coryza, or sore throat in the absence of a known cause other than influenza.

At the present time, we are at the tail end of the winter influenza season. Although overall seasonal influenza activity in Pennsylvania is low, small numbers of cases are still occurring throughout the state. There is no way to clinically distinguish seasonal influenza from swine influenza.

Infection control in school settings

The key to controlling the spread of respiratory infections in the school setting, whether they are due to swine influenza or other respiratory pathogens, is implementing and practicing good infection control. This includes:

1. Cough Etiquette:

Always remind children to:

Cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze—have them throw the tissue away after they use it.
Wash their hands often with soap and water, especially after they cough or sneeze. If water is not near, use an alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Remind them to not to touch their eyes, nose, or mouth. Germs often spread this way.

2. Hand washing:

Remind children, staff members, and care providers in child care settings to wash their hands or use alcohol-based hand cleaners, and make sure that supplies are available to prevent the spread of germs.
Encourage children and staff members to use soap and water to wash hands when hands are visibly soiled, or an alcohol-based hand cleaner when soap and water are not available and hands are not visibly soiled.
Encourage staff members and care providers to wash their hands to the extent possible when engaged in certain activities, such as after wiping the child’s nose or mouth, after touching objects such as tissues or surfaces soiled with saliva or nose drainage.
Encourage staff members and care providers to wash the hands of infants and toddlers when the hands become soiled.
Encourage children to wash hands when their hands have become soiled. Teach children to wash hands for 15-20 seconds (long enough for children to sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice).
Oversee the use of alcohol-based hand cleaner by children and avoid using these on the sensitive skin of infants and toddlers.
Rub hands thoroughly until the alcohol has dried, when using alcohol-based hand cleaner.
Keep alcohol-based hand cleaner out of the reach of children to prevent unsupervised use.
Ensure that sink locations and restrooms are stocked with soap, paper towels or working hand dryers.
Ensure that each room is supplied with alcohol-based hand cleaner when sinks for washing hands are not readily accessible. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are not recommended when hands are visibly soiled.

3. Exclusion of ill children and staff members:

Observe all students for symptoms of respiratory illness.
Observe closely all children for symptoms of respiratory illness. Notify the parent if a child develops a fever (100˚F. or higher under the arm, 101˚F. orally, or 102˚F. rectally) or chills, cough, sore throat, headache, or muscle aches.
Notify the local health department so that appropriate guidance can be given, send the child home, if possible, and advise the parent to contact the child’s doctor.
Infants and young children can become quite ill with influenza very quickly and might require urgent medical attention and possibly hospitalization.
If a child has difficulty breathing, is lethargic, or appears to be worsening rapidly, consider calling a physician or 911 in addition to notifying a parent.
Encourage parents of sick children to keep their children home.
Encourage sick staff members to stay home.
Encourage parents of sick children to keep the children home and away from the school setting, until they have been without fever for 24 hours, to prevent spreading illness to others. Similarly, encourage sick staff members or care providers to stay home until they have been without fever for 24 hours.

4. Environmental sanitation

Keep the environment clean and make sure supplies are available.
Clean frequently touched surfaces, toys, and commonly shared items at least daily and when visibly soiled.
Use an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-registered household disinfectant labeled for activity against bacteria and viruses, an EPA-registered hospital disinfectant, or EPA-registered chlorine bleach/hypochlorite solution. Always follow label instructions when using any EPA-registered disinfectant. If EPA-registered chlorine bleach is not available and a generic (i.e., store brand) chlorine bleach is used, mix ¼ cup chlorine bleach with 1 gallon of cool water.
Keep disinfectants out of the reach of children.
Influenza viruses, including swine influenza virus, do not remain viable in the environment for extended periods of time. Therefore, in circumstances where a school is closed (see below) because of a confirmed case or outbreak of influenza, extensive environmental disinfection prior to re-opening is at best an ancillary public health intervention.

5. Control measures for schools:
If a case of swine influenza is confirmed in a member of the school community (students or staff members), decisions regarding further actions and control measures should be made in consultation with your local health department and PADOH.
The CDC has recommended that dismissal of students should be strongly considered in schools with a confirmed case or a suspected case that has an epidemiologic link to a confirmed case.
Similar considerations regarding closure or cancellation should be made regarding large gatherings linked to schools with a confirmed case (such as a school prom, after-school event, or graduation).
However, decisions regarding actions to be taken when a confirmed case is identified in a school setting should be considered on a case-by-case basis, as there may be circumstances where less disruptive alternatives to school closure or event cancellation can be employed.School systems are therefore urged to consult with public health authorities regarding these decisions.

The preceding information was taken directly from "Information Update on Swine Influenza for School Settings: April 30, 2009"

Swine Flu - What to do?

2009-04-27T08:31:00.012-04:00

The federal government has issued a health alert for the US as more cases of Swine Influenza Virus (H1N1) are being identified here and abroad. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has information about the disease, its spread and prevention. Though the cases identified in the United States so far have been few and relatively minor, we should take some precautions to lessen the opportunity for the disease to spread through our schools. The CDC recommends the following, which parenthetically are good daily practices anyway:

What can I do to protect myself from getting sick?

There is no vaccine available right now to protect against swine flu. There are everyday actions that can help prevent the spread of germs that cause respiratory illnesses like influenza.
Take these everyday steps to protect your health:
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue when you cough or sneeze.
Throw the tissue in the trash after you use it.
Wash your hands often with soap and water, especially after you cough or sneeze. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
Avoid touching your eyes, nose or mouth. Germs spread this way.
Try to avoid close contact with sick people.
If you get sick with influenza, CDC recommends that you stay home from work or school and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.

What is the best way to keep from spreading the virus through coughing or sneezing ?

If you are sick, limit your contact with other people as much as possible.
Do not go to work or school if ill.
Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue when coughing or sneezing. It may prevent those around you from getting sick.
Put your used tissue in the waste basket.
Cover your cough or sneeze if you do not have a tissue.
Then, clean your hands, and do so every time you cough or sneeze.

As you can see, prevention is fairly simple. If you have flu-like symptoms, the CDC recommends

What should I do if I get sick?

If you live in areas where swine influenza cases have been identified and become
ill with influenza-like symptoms, including fever, body aches, runny nose,
sore throat, nausea, or vomiting or diarrhea, you may want to contact their health care provider, particularly if you are worried about your symptoms.
Your health care provider will determine whether influenza testing or treatment is needed. If you are sick, you should stay home and avoid contact with other people as much as possible to keep from spreading your illness to others.

If you become ill and experience any of the following warning signs, seek emergency medical care.

In children emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

Fast breathing or trouble breathing
Bluish skin color
Not drinking enough fluids
Not waking up or not interacting
Being so irritable that the child does not want to be held
Flu-like symptoms improve but then return with fever and worse cough
Fever with a rash

In adults, emergency warning signs that need urgent medical attention include:

Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
Pain or pressure in the chest or abdomen
Sudden dizziness
Confusion
Severe or persistent vomiting.

Some simple precautions are all that are needed at the present time to help stem the tide of new flu illness reported. I will try to keep this posting updated as more information becomes available. In future posts, we'll also look at specific ways schools can lessen the impact of this outbreak.

What Day Is It Anyway?

2009-03-14T10:07:00.005-04:00

I guess this falls under the category of "things I found while searching for something else." I ran across this website that highlights all of the monthly, weekly and annual observances that various organizations in the United States recognize.

Here are the listings, just for March from the website (clicking the link will take you to the observance website):

The observances for April can be found here.

And to add to the list, many states recognized the month of March as their annual Severe Weather Awareness Day/Month/Week. (Follow the link to see when your state observes Severe Weather Awareness. Many schools, hospitals, municipalities, counties and others practice their severe weather responses sometime during their awareness periods, in order to prepare people for severe weather emergencies such as thunderstorms, tornadoes, and floods. Pennsylvania staked out the first week of March to conduct its awareness week, and Ohio the last week. Both states conduct statewide severe weather alert exercises which emergency preparedness agencies encourage individuals and organizations to prepare for and practice severe weather responses.

Emergency response exercises should be conducted at least once annually, although some organizations require drills to be conducted bi-annually, usually one in the spring and a second in the fall. The National Weather Service website offers several guides to conducting realistic drills for schools and other organizations, as well as conducting and participating in jurisdiction-wide drills. The website also offers many resources for classroom instruction concerning weather and weather preparedness.

In general:

Conduct an hazard analysis to determine what weather emergencies may impact your school.
Develop a plan that includes planning, mitigation, response and recovery.
Conduct regular drills including weather emergencies, fire, earthquake and other natural disasters to which your area may be prone.
Evaluate your response to the drills and review and revise your plan at least annually.

Are you prepared?

Hand Protection in the Construction Industry

2009-03-06T08:13:00.013-05:00

Most career and technical schools have comprehensive carpentry and/or building maintenance programs that include construction, masonry, electric and plumbing and the like. As we introduce our students to the wide world of construction related fields, one of the first subject areas we cover is safety.

According to a recent article in EHS Today by author Sean Sweeny, a web-based magazine for safety professionals, "OSHA mandates and advanced technologies are ushering in groundbreaking personal protective equipment for the 21st century." The article claims that the injury rate for the construction industry doubles that of other industries. The author claims that none of these injuries are more pervasive and costly than hand injuries, which account for a full one-third of all reported injuries. "The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that in 2007, hand and arm injuries alone — most commonly in the form of severe cuts, abrasions and puncture wounds resulting from handling rough or sharp materials — accounted for one-third of all construction-related injuries." The total annual cost of hand injuries according to the article, is a staggering $382 million, including medical and associated costs for an injured worker. This averages out to approximately $17,000 per case. As we can see, what we might think of as a minor injury, can have a significant impact on the bottom line. When we apply that to our youthful workers, the impact of a serious hand injury takes on a whole new importance when we consider the lifetime impact a significant injury can have on an individual.

OSHA mandated employers to provide adequate hand protection to workers who are engaged in hazardous jobs. In 2008, OSHA began citing and fining employers who failed to look out for their employees hand safety. How does that affect us, in CTE?

First, we need to make sure that our students are aware of safety regulations applicable to their fields of interest. Secondly, and more importantly we must model appropriate behavior and be sure that our students are supplied with appropriate PPE for whatever task they are performing. It is important for us to indoctrinate our students to the idea of wearing hand protection while working, because, again according to the article, fully 60 to 80 percent of workers are either not wearing hand protection during the course of their work, or are removing gloves to complete tasks. Why? From the article, "So why are construction workers hesitant to wear gloves or keep them on throughout an entire day's work tasks? Most often, workers indicate that their work gloves are not comfortable enough to wear all day and don't provide adequate dexterity, making it tedious and unbearable to perform many intricate tasks. As a result, workers who wear gloves often remove their gloves to complete a certain task and subsequently find it faster and easier to continue working without them." We have an ideal situation to be able to encourage our students to wear proper PPE.

What type of hand protection do we need to choose? We need first to evaluate the type of work being done. To what types of hazards will our students be exposed? Cuts, abrasions, punctures, chemical, electrical? By determining what our students will be exposed to, we can decide what type of hand protection is most appropriate. Additionally, we need to take into account the reasons that have been documented that workers do not wear hand protection. These include lack of comfort and dexterity. Hand protection should be chosen that will provide protection for the specific kind of work being done, as well as good fit for comfort and dexterity, the ability to use the hands for intricate work while wearing gloves. Carpenters may need protection from splinters, punctures and abrasion. While masonry workers may need protection from abrasions and chemicals, electrical workers need protection from electrocution. So, doing a work-study to determine the hazards present is paramount to choosing proper PPE..

The author goes on to report that we should choose hand protection with the following factors in mind; durability and cut resistance, grip and dexterity, and of course, fit and comfort. Keeping our students safe should always be our first and formost concern. Providing appropriate hand protection, although sometimes overlooked, is one of the areas where we can certainly give our students the upper hand!

The Power of Choice

2009-02-10T08:06:00.008-05:00

Big project due in a day; daily homework; pressures in class; problems at home; girl- boy-friend issues; demands on the job, on the sports field, in the shop; parents' demands; peer pressure... And the list goes on and on. Stressors that our students, and sometimes we, endure each day. How do they and we cope? Drugs and alcohol, anger, withdrawal, aggressive behavior and bullying. These and other ineffective and self destructive coping mechanisms, over time, only make the problems worse. As educators, we see the manifestation of these problems in our classrooms, shops, hallways and parking lots. In an insightful article, The Root Causes of Destructive Habits, Bullying and Addictions, keynote speaker and workshop facilitator (as described on his website), Scott Gallagher takes a look at how we choose to see our world and how we choose to respond to it.

Gallagher goes on to say that when we were young, and something went wrong in our lives, we tended to look at the problem and ask what's wrong. The answer often came back to us that it was me that something was wrong with. This becomes ingrained to the point that we believe that we are the problem with ourselves. Then we spend the rest of our lives trying to make ourselves feel better with what in the end is destructive behavior. Fixing blame on others and the outside world was the first way that we attempted to assuage our feelings about ourselves. As we grew some of us chose more destructive ways of attempting to make ourselves feel better about ourselves by self medicating with drugs and alcohol, leading to addiction, or taking our frustrations out on other, making others look weak, bad, in an attempt to make ourselves feel better.

Gallagher writes that we fall into the pattern of becoming the victim. Hey, if we're being victimized, that's an excuse to turn the blame away from ourselves. He also believes that our addictions are not the root of the problem, but only a symptom of the underlying issues that we have been unable or unwilling to face. The belief that we are wrong and that we are the victims of some overwhelming life event or some individual reinforces our need for some addiction to mask the feelings of insecurity, ineffectiveness and failure that we've internalized. What he calls our "hopeless view of the world," the underlying pain in our lives, is what leads us to addictive behaviors of all sorts.

The author believes that to treat the addiction, we have to look at the underlying issues that cause the pain that we are trying to mask with our addiction. He feels that we have to have a change of mind, rather than blaming the outside world, we need to look inside and change what we believe about ourselves. According to Gallagher, since we assigned personal meaning to positive and negative events that have impacted our lives, we can change the meaning and therefore our reactions to those events and circumstances. Bad things happen, but do we need to let it ruin our lives, or can we use the event or circumstance to grow and strengthen ourselves.

Our minds our powerful and more often than not, shape the way we see things and how we react to them. He goes onto relate an event from his own life that illustrates just how powerful the mind is, even causing physical ailments. If we keep telling ourselves something about ourselves, that idea eventually can become self fulfilling prophecy. If I think I'm not a good person, then my behavior will eventually follow those thoughts. If I think I can succeed and better myself, my behavior will likewise adapt to fulfill that idea of myself.

I don't usually endorse any particular products or ideas, but Mr. Gallagher hit upon a point that I have believed for a long time, that we ourselves, or at least what we think of ourselves, are the ultimate cause of our problems, and that we, ultimately are the key to our own success. In the words of the ancient Greek aphorism, "Know Thyself."

In his "THE POWER OF CHOICE" school assemblies, Scott shows how he developed these views on life that led to his addictions, and how he created new ones that empowered him. When kids hear his story, many identify with it and are motivated to do the uncomfortable work that is part of his 28-Day Healthy Habits Program.

For more information: Call 905-771-5771 and speak with Scott's assistant, Cindy Harris. Visit their Web Site at: www.integritychoices.com Or email Cindy at cindy@integritychoices.com

Ooooh, My Aching Back! Snow Shoveling Safety

2008-12-19T10:45:00.010-05:00

Ah, it's that time of year again. "Tree tops glisten, and children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow..." Snow. Fun for some, work for others. As we get ready to clean our own sidewalks and driveways, and at school, send out our maintenance crews to clean off sidewalks and driveways we need to remember rules for safe work in the cold. Hazards abound. The obvious, ice and snow, creating slipping and falling hazards. Frigid weather creating cold injury hazards. And the not any less obvious, extra strain on our lungs, hearts, joints, and muscles as we engage in what sometimes seem to be endless battles against snow and ice. Another great newsletter I receive, EHS Today, offers some tips recommended by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) for making snow shoveling safer for us.

From the EHS Today newsletter:

AAOS offers the following tips to prevent injuries while shoveling and using a snow blower:

Check with your doctor. Because this activity places high stress on the heart, speak with your physician first. If you have a medical condition or do not exercise regularly, consider hiring someone to remove the snow.
Dress appropriately. Light, layered, water-repellent clothing provides both ventilation and insulation. It is also important to wear the appropriate head coverings, as well as mittens or gloves and thick, warm socks. Take a break if you feel yourself getting too hot or too cold.
See what you are shoveling/snow blowing. Make sure that your hat or scarf does not block your vision. Watch for ice patches and uneven surfaces. Avoid falls by wearing shoes or boots that have slip-resistant soles.
Clear snow early and often. Begin when a light covering of snow is on the ground to avoid trying to clear packed, heavy snow.

When shoveling:

Warm up your muscles. Shoveling can be a vigorous activity. Before you begin, warm up your muscles for 10 minutes with light exercise.
Pace yourself. Take frequent breaks and replenish fluids to prevent dehydration. If you experience chest pain, shortness of breath or other signs of a heart attack, seek emergency care.
Use a shovel that is comfortable for your height and strength. Do not use a shovel that is too heavy or too long for you. Consider buying a shovel that is specially designed to prevent too much stooping. Space your hands on the tool grip to increase your leverage.
When possible, push the snow instead of lifting it. If you must lift, take small amounts of snow, and lift it with your legs: Squat with your legs apart, knees bent and back straight. Lift by straightening your legs, without bending at the waist. Then walk to where you want to dump the snow; holding a shovelful of snow with your arms outstretched puts too much weight on your spine.
Do not throw the snow over your shoulder or to the side. This requires a twisting motion that stresses your back.

When snow blowing:

Never stick your hands or feet in the snow blower. If snow becomes too impacted, stop the engine and wait at least five seconds. Use a solid object to clear wet snow or debris from the chute. Beware of the recoil of the motor and blades after the machine has been turned off.
Do not leave the snow blower unattended when it is running. Shut off the engine if you must walk away from the machine.
Watch the snow blower cord. If you are operating an electric snow blower, be aware of where the power cord is at all times, so you do not trip and fall.
Add fuel before starting the snow blower. Never add fuel when the engine is running or hot. Do not operate the machine in an enclosed area.
Read the instruction manual. Prior to using a snow blower, read the instruction manual for specific safety hazards, unfamiliar features, and whenever attempting to repair or maintain the snow blower.

Visit http://www.orthoinfo.org/ for more tips on snow shoveling safety.

Happy Shoveling!

Happy Holidays

2008-12-18T08:15:00.010-05:00

It's been a long while since I've posted. I hope that we can get this started again, and be a little more regular about it. Over the next few weeks, hopefully, I'll catch up on some issues that I've had sitting, but just haven't had the time to get to. Here is a timely article from one of my favorite sources SafetyXChange. Since we are all wrapping up our work to get ready for the holidays, the article by contributing author Catherine Jones is appropriate. Not only is safety important on the job and at home, we also need to think about safety as we travel to be with family and friends during this special season. Ms. Jones recommends the following preparations for safe travel:

Make a Checklist

Holiday travel takes a lot of preparation. Shopping for gifts, packing suitcases, booking flights, making arrangements with pet and house sitters, notifying the newspaper delivery person; these are just a few of the tasks involved. I find that it helps to prepare a checklist to make sure I get it all done. I suggest that you do the same and that you make safety part of the planning process. Here’s a checklist for your safety needs.

1. Organize Your Medical Needs
Carry important medical information including emergency contact numbers of doctors, your blood type and health history. If you’re taking medications, pack enough to last several days longer than you expect to be away. Before air travel, make sure you understand the security rules for carrying medications onto planes in handheld bags and talk to your doctor about medical precautions to use during flight such as taking aspirin to prevent blood clots in your legs.

2. Prepare for Emergencies
If traveling by train, identify emergency escape routes from railway cars. If driving, ensure your tires can handle wintry roads. Have your car winterized by your mechanic and be prepared for blocked roads. Take outdoor clothing, boots, flashlights, food and water. If flying, pay attention to the safety instructions and note the nearest emergency exit. Whether staying in a hotel or your sister’s new house, note the escape routes and count the number of doors between your room and the emergency exit so that you can find your way in the dark.

3. Beware of Fire and Burn Hazards
If it’s your turn to sleep in the cold spare room in the basement, remember to turn off the portable space heater when you leave the room or go to sleep. And keep the heater at least three feet from anything that can burn. When running water in the shower or the kitchen sink, remember that hot-water heaters may be set higher than you’re used to.

4. Watch Out for Germs
Stay healthy by avoiding people who are coughing and sneezing. Remember to wash your hands frequently.

Be sure to pack safety in your bag of goodies this year! Happy, safe holidays to all!

Preparing Teens for Safety on the Job

2008-08-04T08:06:00.005-04:00

Along with the OSHA - Teen Safety website, SafetyXChange newsletter provides yet another timely and important topic for discussion about safety for youthful workers. The Bureau of Labor Statistics indicate that the food industry is the largest employer of teens in the United States. Therefore, it stands to reason that youthful workers should be especially ready for the hazards that might be found at the local fast food joint.

The SafetyXChange article cites an interesting statistic, from an "Industrial Accident Prevention Association (IAPA) survey found that 56 percent of young workers polled said they had received no safety training whatsoever before being assigned a new task." More than half of youthful workers indicated that safety training was lacking on the job. As we prepare our students for the job market, it's important to also let them know that they have the RIGHT to be safe while at the workplace. As employers and teachers, we have an obligation to make sure that young workers are ready for the hazards they can encounter on the job. Below are 10 hazards outlined in the SafetyXChange article that teens in the food service industry should be aware of:

10 Hazards Young Workers Should Know

If your son or daughter is starting a job in food services, here are some key hazards you can discuss with them.

1. Food borne illnesses
Frequent hand washing, especially after using a bathroom or handling raw foods such as poultry, can prevent the spread of illness.

2. Slips, trips and falls
Floors must be kept clean and dry and appropriate slip-resistant footwear must be worn. Never carry a load so large that it blocks your vision.

3. Chemicals
Never mix bleach with ammonia; deadly chlorine gas may be released. Know what personal protective equipment, including gloves, you should be using. Always read labels and follow instructions.

4. Strains/Sprains
Repetitive reaching across tables to place or retrieve dishes can cause pain and muscle strain. Never carry more than you can handle comfortably. Ask for help in lifting tables and other heavy objects.

5. Electrocution
Don't go near an electrical appliance or outlet while standing on a wet floor. Never handle plugs with wet hands. If a cord is frayed or cracked, don't use an appliance. Tell your supervisor. Never go near a person who has received an electrical shock until the power has been shut off.

6. Burns
Avoid exposure to steam. Let hot dishes cool before touching. Check sink water temperatures before plunging hands into water.

7. Cuts
When cutting food, ensure that your fingers aren't in the way if the knife slips. Cut away from your body. Never use fingers to pick up broken glass. Sweep it up. Don't compress a trash bag with your hands or body. It may contain items that could cut you. If you find a discarded needle, don't touch it. Tell your supervisor.

8. Workplace violence
Ensure back doors to restaurants are kept locked. Know your state or provincial laws regarding how late you can work and whether you should be working alone.

9. Cooking
Know the laws regarding minimum ages for being allowed work as a cook. Be careful around hot oil. Use correct grease temperature and level. Wear aprons and protective clothing. Know how to extinguish a grease fire (never use water!) Don't reach over hot surfaces.

10. Heat illnesses
Working in a high-temperature restaurant without air conditioning in the dead of summer can cause life-threatening heat stroke. Wear cool clothing, take cool-down breaks and drink plenty of water.

In my own experience, if I had to rank order the 10 items from above, I would have to list cuts and burns as the Number 1 injury that I see from our food service students. While the others also occur, it seems that young culinary students most frequently injure themselves while using cutlery and heating appliances in the kitchen.

Teen workers have the Right to a safe work environment, as do all of us. Right number three, in the Teen Worker Bill of Rights published by the Department of Labor, specifically states:

RIGHT THREE: Safety Is Part Of The Job

I have the right to a safe workplace and the right to file a complaint if the job is unsafe. I have the right to required safety clothing, equipment and training.

Safety training is and should be a significant part of all of the curricula taught in our career and technical centers. Are our students fully prepared for the workforce? Do they know safety? Do they know their rights?

Summer Safety

2008-06-24T08:52:00.012-04:00

In keeping with the spirit of my last post, summer safety will be the subject of this posting as well, with some specifics offered by Catherine Jones a regular contributor to SafetyXChange. As we come up to one of my favorite holidays, Independence Day - July 4, Ms. Jones offers some timely and sage advice on staying safe and healthy during this fun filled holiday. Jones cites six important areas on which to concentrate our efforts to remain safe this summer:

1. Prepare for sun and heat. Most of what we do will be outside. Heat related injuries and illnesses will plague many this summer. Being prepared by keeping enough sunscreen with high sun protection factor (SPF) and moderating the time spent in direct sunlight will help avoid nasty sun burns and the more serious later development of skin cancers. Also, be aware and watch revelers for signs and symptoms of heat related illnesses such as cramps, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, pale skin and perfused sweating. When sweating stops, a life threatening condition called heat stroke is developing and requires immediate medical attention. Caught early though, heat cramps and heat exhaustion are easily treated by moving the individual out of the heat and into a cool place. Cool water can also be given to the person able to drink. No liquids should be given to anyone who is losing or has lost consciousness or the ability to manage the drink themselves.

2. Plan for biters and stingers. Many people are allergic to bee and hornet stings and may suffer life threatening consequences if stung. Be sure that allergic individuals are prepared and bring their medications with them. If someone is stung who is allergic, they may require close supervision and immediate advanced medical care. For more mild reactions, usually scraping the stinger off with a credit card, knife blade or finger nail and using an ice pack on the site will relieve the pain. A baking soda paste, made by adding water, spread over the site will also help to relieve the pain. Wearing light colored clothing, using insect repellents and avoiding the use of sweet smelling colognes while out of doors, will also help to prevent stings and bites. Keep food covered and garbage away from where people are gathering to further avoid our multi-legged and winged friends.

3. Designate safe drivers. Whether at the ball park, or the back yard barbecue, most of us will imbibe at some time or another during the summer. Designate a safe, sober driver before the party starts. Additionally, if you're the one throwing the party, have available and encourage people to drink non-alcoholic beverages. Make sure that your guests don't drive drunk. Remember the old adage, "Friends don't let friends drive drunk."

4. Keep food borne illnesses off the menu. Proper preparation and storage of food during the summer is important. It is important to remember a basic kitchen rule, keep hot foods hot and cold foods cold. Foods, hot or cold, should not be allowed to sit out in the heat for more than the time it takes to eat. Cold foods should be stored on ice when not in use, and hot foods should not be served until ready to eat. Keeping dishes and utensils clean is another important way to avoid food borne illness. No one wants to be sidelined with a bad case of food poisoning after the holiday bash.

5. Be water wise. Every year hundreds of children and adults become victims in the water. Swim and play only where it is safe, and the beach is monitored. Never swim alone. Make sure that there are safety aids for reaching and throwing to a swimmer in trouble. Adults should always be present to monitor children's play in the water. And, don't mix alcohol and water.

6. Handle fireworks safely. The Fourth of July is a time when young and old alike will marvel at the exciting displays of pyrotechnic extravagance that we usually use to celebrate our great country. Children using fireworks must be supervised by an adult. Read the directions carefully, and only use fireworks out of doors, in a well cleared area. Keep a garden hose or bucket of water handy. Do not handle "duds" or fireworks that fail to ignite. Douse them with the bucket of water before handling of them. Make sure that everyone leaves the party with all of their fingers.

Summer time can be a fun and exciting time. Make it a safe time by knowing and reviewing rules for safe summer activities. Use proper protective equipment and follow safety rules when participating in hazardous activities. Enjoy! Work safe, play safe.

Work Safe - Play Safe

2008-05-29T09:41:00.009-04:00

Wow, how time flies! It seems like just yesterday that we were welcoming students back for a new school year. And now, we're getting ready to say good luck and good bye to our graduating class and wishing everyone a "Happy Summer!"

Summer coming brings to the forefront my personal tag-line "Work Safe Play Safe." As we wind down the school year most of us are thinking how we might spend the summer months. (I say "most" because some of us will continue through the daily grind of the work-day, while sprinkling copious amounts of vacation time into our schedules.) But for students and many school employees, June to August is a time for sun and fun. And with all that extra curricular activity going on, some of us tend to forget safety while we play.

It's bad enough when an employee is injured on the job. We experience not only the direct costs of the injury, but also the indirect costs of replacing the injured worker, training new people, increased insurance rates and the like. Likewise, when an employee is injured off the job, we experience the same indirect losses of having to replace and retrain. Most of the time when we read in the newspaper that an individual has been injured in an accident, on the playing field or in the water, while recreating during off time, we seldom think about the loss that that individual's employer has also incurred. A lost employee is a loss to the organization, regardless of whether the loss occurs on the job or off.

It's very important, that just as we follow the rules for safe conduct on the job, we should know and follow safety rules for our recreational activities. Most of the activities that we do for enjoyment have rules and sometimes equipment meant to keep us safe. Helmets and pads, and even in some instances special clothing help to make sports and leisure time safer. Of course, we can only be safe if we know the rules and use the safety equipment. Before undertaking a new activity, we should always learn the rules of safety and determine what special equipment is needed to keep us in the game. Summer activities can be especially dangerous and it is imperative that participants be equipped and knowledgeable. Work safe! Play safe!

For Work Safe Play Safe promotional materials click here.

Take Your Kids to Work Day

2008-04-03T10:47:00.003-04:00

Although not as big an issue for schools as for industry, "Take Your Kids to Work Day" continues to be a popular event with both employees and their children. It's a good time to let youth see what is in store for their futures. Of course, here at the Career Center, everyday is "Take...a kid to work day." We often provide prospective students with a peek into our mini-industrial worlds. Future students benefit from the opportunity to visit career centers to explore vocational options. Very often, students leave with a much different opinion of the "vo-tech" than they came in with. Our staff enjoys the opportunity to give visiting students an eye-opening experience that hopefully encourages them to choose a career/technical tract.

The fourth Thursday in April is usually designated as "Take Your Kid to Work Day," in the US. In another well-timed article, SafetyXChange offers some good advice for preparing for kids visiting our workplaces. While reviewing the list of suggestions the author provided, I thought that they are pretty good overall safety rules for any visitors, especially young students who are interested in exploring the world of career and technical education.

Some of the suggestions included in the article:

Brief your employees on plans for the day. Some may be dealing directly with the students, but all should be watching out for their safety.

Start the day by giving your guests a thorough safety and health orientation. Many hazards of the industrial workplace will be unfamiliar to your young visitors, so take nothing for granted.

Give your visitors a "stay in the yellow lines" tour. Explain where they are permitted to go and where they are not. Make sure they know they are not to operate equipment or vehicles.

Supply the visitors with identification badges and any required personal protective gear.

Maintain close supervision throughout the visit with an appropriate ratio of supervisor-to-visitor for the hazardous nature of your workplace.

To see the complete list of suggestions, click HERE.

Likewise, to make the visits productive and interesting, activities should be planned in advance, with attention to providing prospective students with an idea of what career and technical education is all about, and particularly the program or programs he/she has decided to visit. Safety should always be in the forefront, and current students and staff should be encouraged to model safe behavior at all times, not only when visitors are present.

In a related article, SafetyXChange contributing author reminds us, "Above all, remember that this is a learning experience. To be successful, you must commit yourself to what the day is really all about: teaching the next generation how to be good - and safe - workers."

Hazaredous Weather Preparedness Week

2008-03-10T08:30:00.007-04:00

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency along with the National Weather Service will sponsor the annual Hazardous Weather Preparedness Week beginning 3/10 and lasting through Friday 3/14. The 2008 Annual Hazardous Weather Drill will be conducted on 3/13 and a statewide test of the emergency notification system on 3/14. All schools should participate in the statewide drill by practicing their severe weather sheltering procedures, more affectionately know as a "Tornado Drill."

Procedures for the drill should include:

Having a documented procedure for responding to weather emergencies, including contingencies for tornadoes, flash floods, severe thunderstorms and winter weather emergencies.

Practicing sheltering in place;

Testing communications systems both internally (how do you notify your building occupants - even if the power is out) and externally (how will you communicate with outside agencies in the event that you need help.)

Preparing to respond to the needs of your students and staff should the building be hit.

Preparing to recover from a catastrophic incident such as a flash flood or direct hit from a tornado.

Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency offers this School Planning Tool Kit to help schools prepare for all types of emergencies, including tornadoes and other weather events. Knowing what you and your staff will do to keep your students safe during weather emergencies takes planning and coordination. Practice helps make it possible.

Change Your Clock - Change Your Battery

2008-03-10T08:14:00.007-04:00

On Sunday, March 9 at 2:00 AM we once again changed our clocks to daylight savings time, and lost that extra hour of sleep we've been getting since last November. As we readjust our internal clocks to the earlier hour, mine should be adjusted by July or August, we should also remember to change the batteries in our smoke detectors. A working smoke detector is the single best and simplest defense against a fire in our homes that we can have. Early detection of smoke and fire in a home and notification of the homes occupants are the single best predictor of survival in a home fire. Make sure your smoke detector is working and has good batteries. Test it at least monthly, and especially if you have small children in your home, make sure to practice your home fire drills at least once a month.

Sleep...z-z-z-z-z-z-z

2008-03-04T15:06:00.007-05:00

SafetyXChange once again offers a timely and important topic. It's National Sleep Awareness Week! The National Sleep Foundation details some good information about sleep, the importance of sleep and the consequences of not enough sleep.

SafetyXChange contributing author, Ted Morrison offers some interesting pointers about sleep. He recommends answering two questions to find out if you're getting enough sleep.

1. Can you wake up on time without an alarm?

2. Do you feel rested?

If you answered, "No," to these two questions, you may be shortchanging yourself for sleep, which is not an unusual thing for many busy adults, and many of our students, too!

Mr. Morrison offers these four signs of sleep deprivation:

Slowed reaction times;

Inability to process or respond to ongoing events;

Poor logic and judgment; and

Difficulty concentrating.

Morrison continues, "Tired workers are also less motivated and more forgetful. They have a greater tendency to take risks. Poor performance due to fatigue is more noticeable with repetitive tasks that take more than 30 minutes, or are complex and require close attention. Fatigued workers tend to rely on others to stay abreast of work, and often compensate for poor concentration by checking and re-checking their own work."

Continuing in his article, Morrison outlines nine suggestions for getting more sleep including keeping a schedule, getting to bed on time, getting regular exercise, and maximizing your sleep time by eliminating distractions and enlisting family help to get sleep.

Did you know that lack of sleep played a role in three notable disasters? The Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Challenger disaster, and the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Do you think that our students are getting the recommended 10-12 hours of sleep needed for children and teens? Are you, as an adult, getting the recommended 8 hours of sleep each night? Lack of sleep affects our health and welfare, and our ability to function throughout the day. Getting enough sleep is as important now, as it was when we were kids. Excuse me, I need a nap. Z-z-z-z-z-z-z...

Safe Storage

2008-02-20T08:22:00.009-05:00

If nothing else, career and technical centers are great collection points. Career and technical instructors know how to accumulate. And, it's not always a bad thing. Take a look in the auto body shop, or the deisel mechanics shop, the carpentry shop and building trades. And our heavy shops aren't the only place where a lot of stackable storage goes on. Food service and cosmetology shops have their own storage issues. Hundreds of individual hair care product bottles are stacked in storage rooms behind our in-school salons. Product and supplies tend to accumulate quickly. Instructors are good at maintaining stock for their students. It is, indeed, necessary to keep stock on hand. It's much easier to to store five or six fenders and hoods, than it is to give each student his/her own car. Every carpenter knows that those small pieces of scrap lumber come in handy at some time or another. The welding and fabrication shops thrive on scrap metal to provide students with ready, disposable supplies. As a consequence of all of the collecting going on, storage space often comes at a premium. Many of us have outbuildings, ours is a pole barn, where everything from old equipment to stock and machinery are kept until needed.

With all of this storage going on, there are some safety rules of which we should be aware. First and foremost is the attention that should be paid to the fire code. Aisles, doorways and escape routes must never be impeded by storage. Racks and bins should be arranged so as to allow free passage between them into the main travel lanes. Vertical storage must take into consideration the presence of sprinkler systems, and product should be kept at least three feet away on all sides of a sprinkler head. It is, in fact, a violation of the fire code to impede the means of egress from any building. Also as important is the special considerations that must be taken for flamable and combustible products, such as paint supplies, thinners, solvents and the like. Special rules apply to the storage of hazardous materials. You should check the local codes to ascertain the controls needed to store chemicals and other commodities that present special hazards. Along with hazardous materials, odd shaped and sized materials also present a special hazard for stacking and storage.

Catherine Jones, a regular contributor to SafetyXChange offers some useful suggestions for storing what she calls oddballs. Those products and items that are not of equal proportions or configuration, like automobile hoods, sacks of concrete or what Ms. Jones offers as an example, tote bags full of split black beans. Along with some explanations for why proper stacking is important, Ms. Jones offers the following guidelines for stacking "oddballs" or mismatched items:

Try to keep articles of the same size and weight together.
Keep heavy and/or unstable items nearer to the floor.
Secure bags and bundles by stacking them in an interlocking pattern or in alternating directions to increase stability.
Ensure that all bags are properly closed, to prevent items from spilling or shifting.
Place barrels, balls, rolled material and metal bars in racks to prevent them from rolling.
If you don't use racks, stack round items on solid, level surfaces.
Block and chock bottom tiers of drums, barrels and kegs to prevent rolling or shifting in either direction.
Band together large cylindrical objects that are stacked vertically.
If you're using racks to stack long items, don't let parts protrude past the end.
Place planks, sheets of plywood or pallets between tiers to provide a firm and flat surface.
If materials can't be stacked due to size, shape or fragility, store them on shelves or in bins.
Stack only to safe heights.

Storage areas should be kept as neat as possible. Stackable items must be organized in such a way so as not to create a hazard to students or employees who must work around storage areas. As I was writing this article I was reminded of the old sight gag, where the character opens a closet door and WHAM! the entire contents of the closet flows out of the door in an avalanche of junk, inundating the poor unsuspecting character that haplessly opened the door. Funny when we see it on Saturday Night Live, but not so funny when it causes a student or employee to be injured or killed. What do your storage areas look like?

Electrical Safety

2008-02-06T07:58:00.001-05:00

This brief but useful list of safety tips appeared in a recent issue of one of my favorite on-line resources, SafetyXChange.

ELECTRICAL SAFETY --->10 Quick Tips
By Catherine Jones

Never use any appliance or machinery while touching anything wet.

Unplug machinery and appliances before cleaning, inspecting, repairing, or removing something from them.

Keep electrical equipment, machinery, and work areas clean. Oil, dust, waste, and water can be fire hazards around electricity.

Keep access to panels and junction boxes clear.

Move flammable materials away from electric heat sources and lights.
Know the location of fuses and circuit breakers.

If you are not trained to work in high-voltage areas, do not enter them, even in an emergency.

Make sure all electrical equipment is properly grounded.

Plug power tools into grounded outlets installed with Grounded Fault Circuit Interrupters.

Use C-rated extinguishers for electrical fires. Never use water.

Don't let an accident ruin your day!

Welding Ventilation Safety

2008-01-28T08:32:00.001-05:00

Welding, is arguably one of our favorite programs. Many students in this rural, formerly steel producing area, are still looking for basic welding programs to help get them started on a career in metal fabricating. Even our other programs, such as auto and diesel mechanics, auto body, precision production metals and even some robotics, engineering and design use welding as a supportive skill in each of their program areas. Local industries have also indicated a strong interest in providing their workers with advanced welding skills.

Several years ago, after completing comprehensive air quality testing in our building, we discovered that our welding ventilation systems had become outdated and sorely lacked any required efficiency. The old hood systems just weren't pulling their weight any longer. In fact, because they pulled welding fumes and smoke up, past the face of the welder, the systems no longer met the Occupational Safety and Health standards for welding ventilation, particularly drawing the fumes away from the operator and providing 100 cubic feet per minute (100 cfm)of air exchange at the piece of work. We were lucking to be drawing a minute fraction of that requirement. So welding ventilation was identified as a major issue in our shops, since many of the shops used welding as an integral part of their total educational package.

What to do was simple. We needed new welding ventilation systems. And, we needed them ASAP! The Occupational Hazards weekly e-zine, provides a good overview of the requirements for welding ventilation, and the importance of providing appropriate protection for welding operators.

Starting out the article with an anecdote from a former welder, who suffered ill effects of breathing airborne particles over the years, the author gives a brief explanation of the hazards of welding fumes and gases. Because of the shear number of welders in the industry, the author highlights the problem, "Industrial workers are exposed to hazardous airborne particles on a daily basis. Given that there are an estimated 400,000 workers in the welding industry alone, it is important to understand the potential health consequences of particle inhalation." He goes on to outline some of the possible types of particulate matter suspended in the air during welding operations. Finally, he outlines some considerations to look at when choosing what type of mechanical controls will be best for a particular operation.

Because of the nature of our programs, and the fact that welding operations have become very portable, we decided to go with articulating arm equipped portable welding fume collectors. After consultation with several manufacturers and a review of pricing, we decided to spec four portable fume collectors. Two would have single collection arms and two would have dual collection arms. We used this configuration, because some of our instructors wanted the option to be able to have two students welding at a time, while others felt that the portability of the single arm model was more advantageous to their needs. Because the units are portable, there is a lot of sharing that goes on, and having the different units has benefited all of the programs using them.

Of course, needs for other installations will be different, and some self-evaluation is needed to determine what product will fill the needs of a particular operation best. The OSHA standard (and the Occupational Hazards article provide a good starting point for looking at what is needed and how to best make it work in your facility. Providing good air quality for our students has to be a priority for both the long and short term.